A Family Endeavor
by Stranger H
Summary: Snape's daughter, Mariet is commissioned to paint the Malfoy family portrait, but plays a more vital role to the Malfoy's than simply a painter. Finally completed! :cheer:
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note- Consider this an AU. Mariet is my own character, though the others are property of JKR, they interact and such. This is my storyline, no one elses'. I did try to stay in with the books, however, since the story is set in summer and with the Malfoy's, I didn't slave over it. And I did take some liberties with certainaspects, so if you don't like it, I'm sorry. This fic is also rated M for some mature sexual content and femme slash, though the first couple of chapters are fine. It will get a little smutty, so you know, so I didn't rate it what it is by accident. I really appreciate reviews and such and comments on anything that may help out with the flow of this story. I'm still working on it, so ... any feedback would be nice. Stranger H._**

"A Family Endeavor"

**Chapter One- Making Up for the Past**

She stood back to gaze at her working progress. _Jefferson Airplane_ was blaring through her stereo, though it seemed only a faint echo with the stone walls of the chapel. She was a skilled painter, specializing in portraits and religious variations. She was commissioned to paint a fresco on the walls and ceiling of a little chapel in the country. It had no stained glass windows or any fancy wood workings, but it had a decent sized congregation. She had stayed there as a girl, when she was first sent back to England from Germany. Her mother had died and Alexandra, her mother's sister, sent her to the little chapel because Kayne, her Muggle husband, had relatives there who he knew would take Mariet in.

Mariet set her paintbrush down and put her hands on her hips, tilting her head slightly, to see if her proportions were correct. She had been working on completing the fresco every summer for two years, and finally, she was at her last patch of unpainted plaster. She had worked in sections, though her fresco was a secca painting. She used charms to ensure a long lasting work, as she was painting on dry plaster, which easily let the paint chip and crack off.

She picked up her brush and went back to work on the last section of the wall of the chapel. The subject of the painting had been Jesus' life from birth to his second rising. She had used the chapel's caretakers as subjects to create the figure of Mary and Jesus. Instead of using the staff's actual faces, she combined them to form a new being for Jesus, and for Mary, she used her idea of beauty, figuring the face of her mother into the contours of Mary.

"Oh, it's beautiful, Mariet. Simply stunning," said a high pitched voice from the doors of the chapel. Mariet turned around and smiled.

"Thank you Katherine," she replied, her German accent evident upon the last syllables of Katherine's name. She had to learn to speak English before she was shipped off to England, a task that proved harder than she expected. Through the years, however, her accent was hardly detectable most of the time. She had worked hard to lose it, as she felt her teachers and students wouldn't understand her or would laugh at her. Now she really had no noticeable accent, German or otherwise, until she said words like "suppose" or words with hard "R" sounds. But it didn't matter what words she spoke when she was angry. The moment her voice raised, her German accent came back fast and thick. A few times in her years at Hogwarts, she started yelling at one or two particular Gryffindor students in German. No one dared laugh at her though, because her spell craft was definitely quicker than her English.

"You'll be finished by nightfall won't you? It's almost a shame. We enjoyed having you here so much so..." Katherine said, looking sadly at Mariet.

"I can't work on it forever," Mariet replied, wiping away stray hair from her face.

"No, I guess you can't. Well, I'll let you get on then. And your father will be stopping by later, I'm supposed to tell you."

"Why is he coming here?" Mariet's heart nearly stopped.

"To see you I suspect," Katherine said, walking out of the chapel with a smile.

Mariet had never been close with her father. It seemed to her that he would rather forget about her altogether, so she never pushed on having a relationship with him. And besides, what kind of father would Severus Snape be anyway? It surprised most that he even had a child, those few that knew. And it was a definite few that really knew who she was.

* * *

Mariet was putting the last few brush strokes to the plaster when her father opened the chapel doors. She turned off the stereo and set her brush down, preferring to look her father in the face. "Hello," she said, not sure if she should use any terms of paternal recognition or not.

"Mariet... This is... This is amazing," Snape said, looking up at the ceiling and turning. "You painted all of this?"

"Yes. I had to do something to occupy the time you weren't there," Mariet said sarcastically.

Snape's smile vanished as quickly as it came. "I deserve that," he said, sitting down on one of the wooden chairs that sat near the back of the chapel, where she had been working.

Mariet pulled back a chair opposite him and sat in it, tossing her long braid off her shoulder. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to see you," he said, gazing at her in a way that was unreadable to her. "I wanted... I wanted to talk to you..."

"You want to talk to me..." Mariet repeated, staring at him. "After all these years... you want to talk to me _now_?"

"You don't understand... I just couldn't-"

"Admit that I was your daughter?" Mariet interrupted, growing frustrated.

"No... Let me finish. I couldn't let anyone know... Not then, not while you were in school. There was too much of the past that I still hadn't worked out... I couldn't face you until I came to terms with my own... dilemma."

Mariet leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms. "Continue."

Snape looked perplexed, trying to find the words to go on. "Your mother... When she left... She never told me she was pregnant... I didn't even know you existed until you arrived three years ago at Hogwarts. I wasn't sure... I never in my life expected to have a child, and then to see you... I ... I just didn't know what to do."

Mariet absorbed her father's excuses. "You could have at least acknowledged my existence as your child. You didn't have to throw your arms up and call me daughter, but you could have made some sort of notion that you cared... You could have said something to me when no one was around if you didn't want anyone to know."

"I never said I didn't want anyone to know. You're my flesh and blood, Mariet."

"Have you actually told anyone? And Dumbledore doesn't count. Aunt Alexandra told him in her letter that she sent with Kayne and me when we came over here after she died."

Snape sighed. "Mariet, I love you... I wish you would see that."

"Oh really? You love me like you loved my mother? When you left her? Remember that?"

"I didn't leave her. I was on a mission... when I came home, she was gone. I didn't know where she went or why... I never heard from her. I didn't send owls because I didn't know if she wanted to hear from me. I took her leaving as a sign not to bother looking for her."

Mariet closed her eyes and massaged her temples with her fingers. "You know nothing about women."

Snape forced a bitter laugh. "Obviously." In the moment of silence that passed between them, he took the opportunity to give his daughter a stack of small books tied together with twine. "These... these are my journals I kept when I was with your mother, and after... I can't say to you what she meant to me... I can only hope to show you..."

Mariet took the journals and held them on her lap, staring at them. "She loved you, you know," she said as Snape stood to leave. "Even though she'd scream at me about how horrible you were... and how it was because of me that you didn't care for her... She did love you."

Snape sat back down and took his daughters' hands in his. "She vented her anger out on you?"

"Yes," Mariet nodded. "Every time she did, I would always think you were everything she said you were... Then when I arrived here... You seemed completely different. Even though you didn't say anything, I could tell... by the way you looked at me... I knew... she was wrong."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two- Portraits**

Mariet finished the fresco and waved away her commission. "It's the least I could do... You took me in when I had nowhere else to go. Consider this my three years rent," she said, smiling to Katherine.

"If you're sure," Katherine replied, raising an eyebrow at Mariet. "The money is yours... You more than earned it."

"Keep it," laughed Mariet as she pulled her bag up over her shoulder and practically skipped out the chapel doors for what she hoped would be the last time.

"You sure you have everything?" Snape asked, taking one of his daughter's bags and putting it over his own shoulder.

"Yes. I've triple checked."

Snape smiled a half- smile. "Just like Stanzi," he said softly, so that Mariet wouldn't hear.

* * *

Mariet had always thought her father was cold, heartless, and cruel. Her mother, Constanza, influenced these views. Mariet never knew her father had any softer side until she came across a stack of old love letters in her mothers' wardrobe. It was after Constanza died and Mariet was cleaning through her mother's things, getting ready to move in with her Aunt Alexandra. When she found the letters, she didn't know what to expect. She sat down for two hours and read them, one by one. Some were long and heartfelt, others were short and rushed. Each one opened a new door into the man who was her father; the man she never knew.

Now that she had acquired Snape's journals, she was coming closer to finding out who Severus really was. Little did anyone at Hogwarts know, he was caring, and deeply devoted.

* * *

"Well this is it," Snape said, unlocking the door to his old, but humble home. It was small and out of the way. The feel inside was similar to Snape's personality: mellow and stoic. The furniture hardly reflected much of anything. It was all dull and drab. Mariet set her bags down on the floor and looked around.

"It's.. nice," she said, eyeing the peculiar objects on the shelves with her father's books.

"I know it isn't much... But its home," Snape commented, coming up to peer over his daughter's shoulder. "Your room is upstairs."

Snape led her up a short, narrow flight of stairs to the second floor, which contained only two bedrooms and a bath. Mariet paused in both rooms, wondering which was hers.

"You can take whichever you like. The upstairs is yours. I hardly go here... Mostly for storage..." her father mumbled, wiping away a cobweb from the basket perched on the bathroom countertop. "It could use some cleaning..."

Mariet smiled. "I like it. Perhaps a little colour... I think it will be fine. Would you... Would you mind if I painted the walls?" she asked, walking around the bedroom on the left.

"No, not at all... Do what you like... What did you have in mind?"

Mariet sat on the bed, which groaned under her weight. "Oh, maybe a murals of some sort? Something... maybe like a forest scene? Something natural and relaxing."

"I'll leave you to it then. Dinner will be ready in a while.. I'll call you down," Snape said, smiling faintly, starting down the stairs. Mariet's bags had appeared at the top of the stairs and she pulled them into the right-hand bedroom and started to unpack.

* * *

An hour or so went by and Mariet had accomplished making her room suitable for living, though her bags remained, for the most part, full of her things. Scourgify had cured the room of most of it's dust and webbing, but Mariet still had to get into the root of the mess, dragging out the bedspread and shaking it clean of it's musty overshell. She took a cloth with furniture polish to the wood workings of the room, giving it a clean smell. Finally, as the scent of cooking food wafted upstairs, Mariet managed to put away the last of her clothes into the closet and wash up before making her way downstairs.

"Smells nice," she commented, poking her head cautiously into the kitchen to see her father stirring one of the bubbling pots on the stovetop.

Snape looked over his shoulder and motioned her in.

"I didn't know you cooked," she said, taking a closer look at the simmering concoctions.

Snape laughed. "Not many do."

Mariet smiled and looked around the kitchen. It was small, like most of the house, but cozy. The floor was covered with off-white tiling. The fridge and stove were a matching green; a sign that they were almost as old as the house. The cabinets and barstools at the counter that served as a window into the living area were dark, polished wood, possibly redwood. The countertop matched the floor tiling, as did the bath upstairs. All off- white tiling.

"So, what are we having?" she asked, turning back to her father.

Before he could answer, there was a sharp rapping on the front door that carried through the house like a whistle. Mariet jumped slightly. Snape stopped stirring and handed her the spoon. "Just... keep stirring it..." he muttered, disappearing to answer the door.

Mariet moved the spoon through the pot slowly, trying her best to listen to the faint voices coming from the hallway. She peered through the open space above the counter between the kitchen and living room as though she was trying to see through the walls. Snape appeared again, causing her to jump for the second time in 5 minutes. She stirred the pot furiously, trying to downplay the fact that she was eavesdropping.

"Take it off the flame and cover it," he said, seeming not to notice her frantic cover up. He disappeared again; Mariet listened to his footsteps was he stalked down the hallway.

Mariet waited in the kitchen for another few minutes after getting the pots and pans off their flames. She paced back and forth, then leaned against the cabinets. Finally, tired of sitting by in the background, she made her way slowly down the hallway, pausing every so often to listen in on her father's conversation, trying to decipher who he was entertaining.

"... I told you not to come by here..." she heard Snape say to an unseen figure.

Mariet sighed, composing herself, and peered around the corner. "Hi," she said meekly, feeling her face flush with embarrassment. "I didn't mean to intrude... "

"You're not intruding," Snape said, waving her in.

She stepped into the room and tried to keep herself from staring at her father's guests: Lucius Malfoy and his son, Draco. Lucius was sitting up, leaning a little toward her father, as though trying to block his son out of the conversation. Draco was leaning back in the couch with a bored expression, until she entered. Then his eyes sparkled with curiousity. Lucius glared at her.

" I... I just didn't know if you wanted me to do anything else with dinner..." she stammered, tossing her long braided hair off her shoulder.

"Just leave it, that's fine," Snape replied, looking at his daughter with a blank expression. A few awkward moments went by before finally, Snape said, "Why don't you show young Draco around the house? Maybe you could drop by the chapel and show him that too."

"All... All right..." she said, looking from Lucius to her father. There seemed to be a tension between them that developed only in the few seconds she was in the room. "Let's go," she said quietly, nodding toward the doorway to Draco. He immediately stood, but stopped short of coming to her, to turn to his father.

Lucius nodded and Draco followed Mariet out of the awkward room.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Draco asked as Mariet led him outside.

"I live here," she said. "Why are _you_ here?"

"I'm here with my father." Draco hurried a little to keep up with Mariet. "Why are you walking so fast?"

"I want to show you the chapel before they close it up for the night," she answered, slowing down a little. Then she laughed. "I guess I can slow down. It's not like they sent us out for us to be quick about it... Judging of course, by your father's expression."

Draco smiled grimly. "I'm sorry about that."

"Oh, don't apologize. It's not your fault."

"I know... I know it isn't." He stopped walking. "Mariet... why are you here? Really?"

Mariet sighed and pulled Draco close to her. "You promise not to spread this around?"

Draco nodded.

"I... He... Snape is my father," she said in a rush.

Draco stared at her. "Are you serious?"

It was Mariet's turn to nod.

"But... How? I thought you were a Salvein..."

"He never married my mother... So I inherited her family name, instead of his..." Mariet felt her heart fluttering. It was so strange to be talking about this. It was so foreign. "And, he didn't even know about me until I came to Hogwarts."

Draco blinked. "Oh... wow..." He and Mariet started toward the chapel again, an awkward silence looming over them. That silence, however, was broken the moment Draco entered the little chapel. "Whoa..." he said, staring up at the ceiling, circling around where he stood. That was the common dance of those who looked at her work: look up, then around.

"Thank you," Mariet smiled.

"You painted all this? By hand?"

"There's really no other way," she giggled. "But yes, I did create this."

"It looks incredible... How long did it take?"

"Nearly three years... but I worked only in the summers and Christmas breaks... Well, those few breaks I actually spent outside of Hogwarts..."

Draco finally stopped his slow spin dance and said, "It looks amazing."

Mariet beamed. "Thank you. It's by far one of the largest things I've done... But of course, I don't get many commissions... I painted this to pay off my board for those years... This was my home until recently."

Draco didn't say anything, but continued to look around at all the minor details around the chapel. "Did you use models for this?"

"I did... but they look nothing like what is on the walls... I improvised a lot of it."

"You can do portraits though?" Draco inquired, looking sideways at her.

"Yes... Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's nothing... It's just... My father has been looking for someone to work on a new family portrait... Do you think you would be interested...?"

Mariet looked taken aback. "Well, sure, I suppose. If you think I'm good enough. I'd love to."

"I mean, you'll get paid for it and everything..."

"I said I would..." Mariet laughed.

* * *

It was two days after Mariet conversed with Draco when she heard from Lucius. He came again at dinner, with the sharp rapping on the door, which Mariet figured out was his snake- headed walking stick tapping against the paneling. She answered the door that time, having acquired that new permission from Snape after she told him of Draco's comments. Snape agreed to let her paint for the Malfoy's only half-heartedly, though he wouldn't tell her why he was hesitant.

"Ah, Mariet, just the one I wanted to see," Lucius said, smiling a very forced smile. He stepped into the house, not bothering to hang his cloak. "This isn't going to take very long," he said as Snape entered the hallway. He stiffened upon seeing Lucius, nodded to him politely, then exited to the kitchen.

Mariet looked from one man to the other and shamed herself for thinking that the tension between them seemed almost... sexual. She stared down at the floor until Lucius brought her attentions back to him.

"Draco tells me you're a decent painter."

Mariet nodded.

"Well, then, I'd like it if you'd come to the Manor later this week and show me a little of what you can do... Bring a few sketches and we'll go from there. And, I'm not making any promises. My tastes are somewhat different from my son's." He glared down at Mariet.

"I understand," she replied, feeling her ego shrinking with every second those icey blue eyes lingered on her.

"Good," he sneered, taking his leave of the house.

Mariet walked slowly back to the kitchen, picking up the shredded pieces of her pride. "Wow..." she said to herself softly when she entered the kitchen.

"What is it?" Snape asked, taking one of the pots off the flame.

"It's just... I never realized it was possible for one person to make you feel so miniscule."

Snape stopped in mid- motion. "Did he... what did he say to you?"

"He just wanted me to bring in a few sketches, while telling me, without directly telling me, that he highly doubted my talents... That's all," Mariet laughed softly. "Hopefully, I'll surprise him."

Snape didn't move for several seconds, then went about setting dinner onto their plates. Not another word of Lucius was mentioned that night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three- Expectations**

Mariet swallowed down her nerves as she walked up the Malfoy Manor steps. She clutched her sketches tightly in their leather bound case. She felt herself shaking a bit a cursed herself. "It's fine. It's fine. You're fine," she said to herself. She exhaled and took one of the brass doorknockers on the large front doors that were shaped like thorny vines and knocked three times.

She let the knocker slip from her fingers and waited. After a little while, when she was unsure if anyone was going to answer, the door opened, revealing a timid little house elf. "Who are you wishing to see, miss?" it squeaked out nervously looking on either side of Mariet.

Mariet stood back, not wanting to startle the little creature. "Um... Lucius Malfoy... I'm here for-"

"This way," it interrupted, backing up quickly and holding the door open.

Mariet walked through and watched the little house elf close the doors back and lock them securely. "Master Malfoy is not here just now, but you can wait in here," it squeaked, scurrying across the floor, leading Mariet down the large hallway. The floor was marble and her shoes clicked as she walked. The walls in the hall were a light pink colour. Old portraits served as the decorum. There were little tables here and there on either side, containing a lamp or a book or two. The house elf led her all the way down the hall and into a large parlor on the left.

"You may sit anywhere," the house elf said before disappearing from sight.

Mariet looked around the parlor, absorbing its rich colours and textures. The walls were dark red and the floor switched from marble to hardwood, dark and shining with a polish that smelled of cedar. A large dark grandfather clock provided the only sounds in the room, as its pendulum swung back and forth. A large fireplace served as the centerpiece of the room, each brick placed exactly so. There was no fire, however, as it was summer, but Mariet could only imagine how beautiful it would look. There was an off-white sofa with deep red pillows on either side of it. Its feet were gold and clawed, like old bathtubs. Matching chairs in inverting colours sat in the corners, angled to the sofa and fireplace. A large coffee table fixture sat in front of the sofa and had the same polish as the floor, though it sat on a large Persian rug. Mariet walked around slowly, feeling nervous in the room. Everything looked as though it would break if she touched it. She decided, finally, to sit on the edge of one of the chairs and look over her sketches.

She brought a variety with her, some of people, some of creatures she had studied in Care of Magical Creatures, and others of rooms or views from the castle. She even added in a few fantasy sketches she imagined, like a little boy she saw at the market that she sketched as a little cherub. Her heart beat faster with every sketch she flipped through. She was so nervous he would hate them all. But why should that matter? It's not like she wasn't talented. She could probably go anywhere to get commissions if she set her mind to it. There was just something about the way Lucius had looked at her that infuriated her. She wanted to prove him wrong.

She watched the pendulum swing back and forth and fell into a trance, staring at it rock across. The clock dinged with every half hour and chimed the time out with every hour. She sat there for three. Finally, after the fourth half hour ding, she snapped out of her trance and fiddled with her sketches again, trying her hardest to stay awake. She sighed and got up, setting her sketches down on the coffee table. She began to pace the length of the room, getting more and more anxious. '_Stop by at the end of the week. Oh Friday's fine.' Men. Ugh. They think they can get away with anything,_ she caught herself thinking.

"M-miss?" came the squeaky little house elf's voice.

Mariet turned and looked around for her and stepped back as she realized the creature was right under her feet. "Yes?"

"Master Malfoy will see you now," it said, backing up when she did.

Mariet smiled and picked up her sketches and followed the house elf out of the parlor and back down the long hallway. "What is your name?" she asked, smiling at the creature.

"N- Nib, miss," it replied, tugging its little cloth around its body nervously.

"Nice to meet you Nib," Mariet replied, staring down Nib.

"I shouldn't be conversing with Master's guests," Nib said, ending the conversation with a pleading look in it's' eyes.

"All right," Mariet replied, feeling a little sorry for the house elf.

Nib let Mariet past the curved staircase, down another long hallway, to what looked like a drawing room. Lucius and his wife were sitting on the sofa, talking. Draco stood over by the open window, near one of the writing desks. Mariet stepped into the room after Nib and nodded to Draco, who had smiled at her.

"Hello," she said, gripping her sketches tightly.

"You must be Mariet," the wife said, standing to greet her. "I am Narcissa."

Mariet smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She shook Narcissa's hand and felt very awkward, feeling as though a thousand eyes were on her, judging her.

"Those are your sketches I presume?" Lucius asked, reaching out an expectant hand, not even bothering to stand.

"Yes," Mariet said, hurriedly handing them over. She was trembling when he took them.

Narcissa gave Mariet a coy smile and sat down next to her husband, leaning over the sketches.

Mariet's eyes wandered over to Draco, who was observing all of this with keen interest. 'Hi,' she mouthed.

Draco smiled and nodded a greeting. 'I'm glad you came,' he mouthed in return.

'I'm so nervous,' she mouthed back, eyeing Lucius's expressions as he sifted through her work.

'Don't be,' Draco mouthed back.

"Well," Lucius said aloud, sighing as he handed back her sketches. "You'll do."

"Really?" Mariet said, feeling a rush of relief.

Lucius nodded, looking her over as he did the first time he saw her, giving her the impression she was livestock for sale.

Mariet smiled. "So.. when should I start?"

"As soon as you can," Narcissa replied, standing and walking over to take Mariet's arm. "We have a guest house you will stay in while you work for us... I'll show you."

Mariet looked around helplessly to Draco, who gave her a happy smile and followed them.

* * *

The guest house was hardly more than a decked out shack, but Mariet didn't complain. She had stayed in worse conditions. The house was to the right of the Manor, located behind the high wall that guarded the property. It was white and brown and from the outside, looked like a small cottage. Inside, one could hardly tell it was a guest house. The first room of the house, right when she walked through the door, was completely empty, save for a cabinet or two, and a chair in the corner.

"I thought you'd like some space," Narcissa said dismissedly waving her hand around. "We'll get you some supplies of course, and you'll do your painting out here. Now, how long do you think it will take?"

Mariet raised an eyebrow at the room and the orders. "That depends on the size of the canvas and how often I can have everyone sit in for my sketches."

Narcissa nodded. "Well, the canvas will be here tomorrow. It's not too large, I don't think. Now, I have to run, but Draco will show you around the rest of the house." And with that, Narcissa left the two schoolmates alone.

"So..." Draco began, walking around Mariet in a circle. "Are you taking the offer?"

Mariet laughed. "I didn't have much of a choice, did I?"

Draco smiled. "I guess not. Listen, I'm sorry if my father was rude to you... He's like that to everyone."

"It's all right."

"No it's not. He had no right to make you wait like that."

Mariet frowned. "He... You mean he was there the whole time?"

Draco nodded. "He just wanted to see if he could push you. He's done the same thing to all the painters that have applied. Most of them left after the first two hours. Except for you..."

Mariet sighed. "Well, at least I have something going for me..."

* * *

The next day, Mariet lugged her bags down to the Malfoy Manor. It seemed a shame to her that she had to pack up her belongings only days after moving in with her father, but Narcissa had insisted. Snape reluctantly let her go after giving her clear directions to come straight to him if anything happened.

"I know. I will," she said, giving her father a goodbye peck on the cheek. That action seemed to surprise Snape, because he only looked at her for a few moments afterwards.

"I'll come by to see you," he replied, giving her a quick, awkward hug.

* * *

Mariet dropped her bags on the floor of the guest house and walked around, deciding where to put everything. The once empty main room was now filled to the brim with canvases and paints. "How many do they expect me to paint?" she said to herself, laughing a little.

She walked around to the bedroom, which was a small room, fitting only a twin bed and a side table in it. The closet was just as tiny. "Generous," she muttered, walking around to the other side of the three-roomed guest house to look at the bath. It was similar to the bedroom, fitting only what was necessary inside it.

She drug her bags to the bedroom and unpacked her clothes, hanging them neatly in the little closet, which seemed to have just enough room for her things. She shoved her bags underneath the bed and sat down on it, feeling its soft bounce. "At least it's comfortable," she said aloud, taking a moment to bounce up and down on the spring mattress.

"Is miss happy with her accommodations?" Nib asked, appearing in the doorway of the bedroom.

Mariet smiled at the little house elf. "Yes. It's fine," she said.

"I'm supposed to tell miss, if she's happy with her room, that she should come over for dinner in the main house," Nib squeaked, not looking Mariet in the face, but staring hard at the floor.

"Lead the way," Mariet replied.

Mariet followed Nib across the courtyard and into the side- door of the Manor. Nib left her in the drawling room, where Draco sat waiting.

When he saw Mariet, he stood and smiled. "Come on," he said, giving a quick nod of his head to beckon her to follow him.

They went down the long hallway and across the stairs, not to the hallway that led to Mariet's waiting room, but on the other side, going behind the stair case to the dining room. This room was no less lavishly decorated. A long, dark wood table was the highlight of the room, being well played off with a chandelier dangling over it and a mirror behind it on the wall opposite them as they entered. Lucius and Narcissa were already seated at one end of the table.

"Hello Mariet," Narcissa called, motioning her and Draco over to the table. Draco took his place at his mother's side, leaving Mariet's place diagonal to Lucius, who had taken the head of the table. She sat down nervously and placed her napkin in her lap. As soon as she cleared her throat in anxiety, the table filled itself with large dishes of steaming food. Only at a glance, did she catch Nib underneath the table, sliding a dish across.

"So, how do you like our guest house?" Narcissa asked, taking a dish of steaming mashed potatoes and helping herself.

"Oh, it's lovely," Mariet lied. "Very cozy." She took the dish Narcissa handed her and helped herself to them as well.

"Good," Narcissa replied, passing on all the dishes to Mariet. "You'll use the largest canvas for the portrait."

"Oh, all right... I was meaning to ask about that... There were so many..."

Narcissa smiled at Mariet. "I thought you might like some for the time being. Perhaps you'll consider doing individual portraits as well? For the main halls. It's tradition that all the men of the family have theirs up while they're in their prime." She smiled at her husband.

Lucius didn't make any indication he was listening. He was busy loading food onto his plate, keeping his right hand far away from Mariet's glass.

"I think I could do that..." Mariet replied, starting on her dinner.

"Lovely to hear you say that," Narcissa smiled again.

Mariet nodded and gave a small smile in reply, chewing her food slowly. Somehow, Narcissa's warmth seemed empty. Perhaps it was Mariet's imagination, but it also felt to her like there was a tension between Lucius and his wife, very similar to the tension she felt between him and her own father. She had been looking at Lucius as she was thinking, and didn't realize it until his eyes snapped up to hers and caused her to look away. She felt so small when he looked at her.

"What's this about sit- ins?" he asked, finally deciding to acknowledge Mariet's presence at the dinner table.

Mariet put down her fork and knife. "Well, it just makes it easier for me to put it all together... For individual sit- in's during my sketches. I... I mean, you don't have to go out to the guest house. I don't really care where they are, to be truthful... I just like to get a feel of each person's personality and regular stature before I paint anything."

Lucius made an indistinguishable noise and continued eating in silence.

"So tell me, Mariet... How did you come to be here in England? Draco has told me you originate from Germany, is that correct?" Narcissa pressed, giving her husband a sideways glare.

"I did, yes. I was born and raised in Germany. My mother died when I was 12, so I went to stay with her sister, until she herself took ill and passed on as well. Then her husband sent me here, so I could be ... with some family friends at a chapel a little ways from here." Mariet decided not to delve into her father at that moment. Something told her if she did, Lucius would give her another one of those patronizing glares as he had at Snapes' home.

"Oh, and where did you go to school before Hogwarts?" This time, Narcissa seemed genuinely interested, surprising Mariet.

"Well, I was attending Durmstrang. I spent my first three years there, until I came to Hogwarts for my fourth year."

"And you're in your last year there now? Is that right?"

"Yes."

Narcissa smiled and took a sip of her drink before continuing with the interrogation. "Draco tells me you're in Slytherin."

Mariet nodded, returning the smile. "Yes."

Narcissa nodded in approval. "I'm sure you're a good student as well."

Mariet nodded again, trying her hardest to keep up the small talk, though something told her silence was the general atmosphere around the Manor.

* * *

After dinner, Mariet and the Malfoy's retired to the drawing room. "I'm afraid I won't be able to have a sit- in with you for a while," Narcissa stated, sitting down on the sofa with her husband.

"That's all right. There's no rush to it. I could probably do some sketches from memory anyway, for starting off with yours..." Mariet answered, still standing, feeling very out of place.

Narcissa smiled again. "I'm sure those will be as good as the sit- in's," she said, patting Lucius on the hand.

"Draco can have his first," Lucius said, staring coldly at Mariet. "I'll call for you when I have time for mine."

"Oh... all right... That's fine."

"Why don't you and Draco start now?" Lucius prompted, giving off a very icey demeanor addressing Mariet.

"But Lucius, we just had-" Narcissa tried to protest.

"Oh, no, it's quite all right, really. I have nothing better to do..." Mariet interrupted upon seeing the murderous expression on Lucius's face.

* * *

Draco and Mariet left immediately for the guest house. "I'm really sorry," Draco said on the way through the courtyard.

"There's no need to apologize," Mariet replied, getting the feeling this was going to be a common pattern in the Malfoy home. _No child should have to apologize for his family_... she thought sadly.

"I know... I know I don't... I just... I want to. I know he never would."

Mariet took several minutes to set up an area in the main room of the guest house to begin her seemingly never- ending endeavor of painting the Malfoy portrait. She and Draco moved the spare canvases to one of the walls and set out two chairs. One hard wooden one went by one of the old tables that were against the wall for Mariet to sketch from. The other chair, a large, musty plush one, was set in front of the table.

Draco settled down in the musty plush chair after taking the cushions outside for a good beating. Mariet sat across from him, curling her legs under herself in the rickety wooden chair, setting out her charcoal pencils and sketch parchment.

"Should I sit some way...?" Draco asked, watching Mariet with curiousity.

"Um... just, however you want to. Remember, I want to get your usual stature. Not a pose."

Draco leaned back in the chair and sighed. "Do you like doing this?"

Mariet looked up from her first few lines of her sketch. "Painting?"

"No... being here... Do you like being here and having to take orders from my father?"

Mariet set down her charcoal pencil. "Draco... I didn't come here because I had to. I came here because I wanted to... because you asked me to."

Draco stared sadly at her. "I'm sorry... I just... I don't want you to hate it here, because of something he might say or do..."

Mariet got up and walked around to Draco, kneeling on the floor. "I would never hate it here," she said soothingly.

Draco didn't reply. He gazed at her with an unreadable expression before leaning down to her and kissing her softly on the mouth.

Mariet pulled away. "Draco..." she said, putting her hand to her mouth.

"I'm sorry," he said, getting up out of the chair and rushing out the guest house door.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four- Bittersweet Surrender**

Mariet sat on the floor, stunned. She realized she was still holding her hand to her mouth and put it down immediately, getting to her feet. _Draco..._

When she stood, she realized she had no idea what to do. She stared helplessly at the few lines on the parchment that were supposed to have been the youngest Malfoy. It seemed this portrait was going to take a little longer than anticipated, Mariet found herself believing. She started towards the table, then turned back to go to the door, then back again. She couldn't make up her mind. Go after him? Or pretend it never happened?

Of course it happened. She could never pretend it didn't. _But it was just a kiss, _she tried to convince herself. But it wasn't just a kiss. She recalled the sparkle in his eyes, the glow of his face whenever she was around. It was he, after all, who suggested to she come to the Manor in the first place. Was this all a game?

_No..._ she thought. _Lucius would never go along with petty games._

She decided to confront Draco in the morning.

* * *

The next day, as Mariet wandered through the long, intimidating halls of the Manor, she came to the conclusion Draco was avoiding her. Nib had woken her up and told her to come for breakfast, and when she arrived in the dining room, only Narcissa was there to accompany her, and that was only until she at down.

"You'll work with Draco again today, yes? I really have to go though, I can't stay much longer. I just wanted to make sure you slept all right," Narcissa said, trying her hardest to give off a friendly tone.

"Oh, yes, I slept fine," Mariet lied. How could she have had a pleasant sleep when Draco had kissed her and then rushed off? And why did he apologize?

Mariet plopped down on the drawing room sofa and leaned back, sighing. "Well, there goes one days' work down the toilet," she said to herself, rubbing her temples with her fingers, closing her eyes. She didn't even notice as she began to doze off.

"Am I paying you to sit around?" the voice of Lucius said, looming above her. Mariet's eyes opened immediately and she sat bolt upright.

"I... I'm sorry," she stammered. Lucius was looking down at Mariet with an expression of pure distaste. "It's just... Draco didn't come for his sit- in today... I just wondered where he was..."

Lucius looked her over for moment, not saying anything, before sitting down in the armchair on the side of the sofa.

Mariet stared at him.

"Well? Get to work," Lucius snapped, causing Mariet to start forward and scramble for her charcoal and parchment.

She took her place on the floor, so that she could look up at all of Lucius, and there was more room to draw, not to mention the fact that she would as soon as hang herself than get charcoal on the Malfoy sofa. She drew her knees up to herself and leaned against the sofa, propping her parchment up, tilting her head sideways for a perception of Lucius. She began to make her first charcoal strokes.

* * *

She worked for nearly an hour and a half, creating two sketches of him face on. She got up from the floor and kneeled down on the right hand side of Lucius, getting ready to work on a profile. He stared at her, his liquid eyes burning through her skin. She felt the colour rush to her cheeks, and she looked down at her parchment nervously. She suddenly felt hot, as though she had stepped outside and was blasted by a wall of summer head and humidity. She set down her parchment and stood back to pull up her hair into a messy, twisted spiral. When she kneeled back on the floor again, she could feel Lucius's eyes. She wondered why he was staring, but didn't even consider asking. She felt she probably knew why. He was trying to find the similarities between her and Snape, as she had no doubt in her mind that Snape had told Lucius of her relations to him.

She sighed and glanced back up to Lucius. "I need a profile..." she said softly, making it seem like she was asking, instead of telling him to look away from her.

He made one of his indistinguishable noises, like at the dinner table, and stared straight ahead.

As she worked on the profile, she caught herself thinking how nicely proportioned his features were. His body, as well as his face, displayed a gently masculinity. His piercing eyes added to his sensuality.

Lucius looked over at her when he heard the pencil strokes stop. "Is there something wrong?" he asked coldly.

"No," Mariet said quickly, realizing she had been staring. She had to quit doing that.

Lucius gazed down at her half- finished sketch. "Stand up," he said, giving her the same distasteful look he had when he caught her half- asleep on the sofa.

Mariet looked confused. "What about...?"

"Do as I say," Lucius commanded, sending a shiver that went down to Mariet's knees. Mariet stood, picking up her sketches and clutching them tight to her chest. "Leave those on the desk," he said.

Mariet looked at him sideways as she slide them on top of a small stack of books littered across the desktop. Lucius took off his robe and let it fall carelessly to the floor, revealing a light blue button- up shirt and black slacks. The colour emphasized his eyes so much so that for a second, Mariet stared in awe.

"Come here," he ordered. She walked back over to him, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. "Get on your knees."

Mariet opened her mouth to question him, but his eyes silenced her. She dropped to her knees.

Lucius reached out and stroked the side of her face, sending chills down her spine. Every nerve tingled at this one simple gesture. She closed her eyes.

"Look at me," Lucius said softly, reaching around her and massaging the back of her neck gently.

She opened her eyes obediently, feeling her body temperature rise as it had only moments before. Perhaps she was wrong. Perhaps it wasn't the similarities of father and daughter he was looking at.

Lucius's hand moved from the back of her neck to her shoulder blades and back, arching her toward him. Mariet gasped lightly, feeling herself yearn for him. His other hand moved across his belt, and with a few swift, clean motions, the soft zip of his pants was heard. His gaze never left hers.

Mariet reached up and touched Lucius's cheek, lightly tracing his jaw line with her fingertips. He kissed her hand and bought her up to him so he could kiss her on the mouth. When their lips touched, Mariet's insides burned like fire. Lucius leaned into the kiss, tracing her spine lightly with his hand and burying his fingers in her hair. He pulled away and leaned back in the chair.

He nodded slightly, gazing down at her with a cold expression. He jerked her forward by the hair and forced her down between his legs to his waiting erection peering at her through unbuttoned clothes.

She looked up at him pleadingly.

He sneered. "Do it."

She swallowed and opened her mouth to take him in, getting a shock at first, of the taste.

Lucius massaged his fingers through her hair, urging her on. His touch fueled her, making her take him in more and more. She pulled back a little, blowing cool air on his head.

"I didn't tell you to do that," he said breathily.

She stared up at him spitefully before swirling her tongue around it, caressing it with her lips. She felt his legs tense and she ran her hands up and down his thighs.

"Finish it," he begged, tightening his grip on her hair. She took him down again, working against the slow thrusting of his hips as he was near to finishing. She breathed hotly on him as she pulled away. He tightened his grip on her hair even more, pushing her forward.

She took him back in one more time, and felt him tense and then collapse as he came. She closed her eyes and willed herself to swallow his come, barely managing to do so without gagging. She pulled away as he let her hair loose.

"Good girl," he said softly, standing up and buttoning his pants. He picked up his robe and draped it back over his shoulders and stared down at her. She put her hand to her mouth, feeling instantly ashamed. "Your father had the same expression his first time around," Lucius said coldly, smirking down at Mariet.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she tripped over herself trying to get off the floor, retreating to the guest house.

"He ran too," Lucius added, watching with unfeeling eyes as Mariet fled.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five- Second Thoughts**

Mariet leaned over the toilet and retched for the second time since she escaped to the guest house. There was nothing in her stomach anymore, but she couldn't help but feel the need to get everything out. She felt soiled and used. She wanted to be clean again. She wiped her mouth with toilet paper and flushed the toilet, leaning back against the wall opposite the sink. Her whole body shook and her skin was sticky with a cold sweat.

Lucius's words spun around her head, taunting her. _'Your father had the same expression his first time around...' _She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it. She clutched her stomach as her thoughts made her sick. She got up off the floor after spending what felt like an hour in the bathroom and lay down on her bed, feeling drained and subdued. She cried herself to sleep.

When she woke, it was to the sound of a soft knocking on the guest house door. She had locked it after running from the main house, fearful he would come after her, though she knew it was unlikely. She didn't want to take any chances. She got up and gingerly walked over to answer the knock. She opened it only slightly, but when she saw it was Draco, she opened it fully to let him in.

"Yes?" she asked, leaning against the edge of the door.

Draco stared at her and she looked away, hoping against hope he would not see what she had done. "You left these..." he said, holding out her sketches she had forgotten in the drawing room.

Mariet took them from him and put them quickly on the table. Draco followed her in the room and closed the door quietly behind him.

"I'm sorry..." he said softly.

"What?" she asked, spinning sharply to look at him.

"I shouldn't have rushed out last night... That was... that was rude of me."

"Oh," she sighed, relieved he wasn't apologizing for Lucius. "It's all right, Draco. It's understandable."

Draco half smiled at her. "Listen, I'd like it if you'd just forget about the kiss... Just... I don't want things to change."

Mariet nodded. "I know..."

Draco looked like he wanted to hug her, but didn't make a move. "I was sent to fetch you for dinner... Snape's here... He wants to see you."

* * *

Mariet followed Draco back through the Manor, into the dining room. Lucius was in the corner, talking quietly with her father. Narcissa came forward upon seeing the pair. "There they are!" she said, her voice empty of the expression behind it.

Draco went to sit by his mother at the table.

"Mariet," Snape said, coming over to her with open arms. Lucius took his place at the head of the table and listened to Narcissa as she leaned over to whisper in his ear.

Mariet closed her eyes and hugged him tightly, trying her hardest to fight back the urge to tell him everything Lucius had done.

"Are you all right?" Snape whispered in her ear, leading her to the table.

She nodded, feeling Lucius watching her. Her father sat down in front of Draco, leaving her with the place across Narcissa, right beside Lucius. She swallowed hard and sat down stiffly, looking at everyone but Lucius.

"How is she doing?" Snape asked, smiling at his daughter.

"Oh, she's doing well," Narcissa answered. "I saw the sketches she did of Lucius today and they're wonderful." She smiled at Mariet.

"Yes, she's a talented girl," Lucius added, running his hand up her leg under the table.

She tensed and returned a forced smile to the compliments. No one seemed to notice what was going on beneath their very noses. "Thank you," she said as cheerfully as she could.

"I'm glad," Snape replied.

Mariet shifted in her chair and crossed her legs, trying to get farther away from Lucius, who now smirked at her, his face expressing amusement as he looked from father to daughter.

Dinner appeared on the table and everyone ate peacefully, exchanging little tid bits of casual conversation. Draco glanced to Mariet quite often; something that Lucius picked up on quickly. Soon, he began watching the pair, making Mariet feel uncomfortable. Luckily, however, dinner was over and Snape was rising from the table to take his leave.

"No, really," he said to Narcissa. "I just stopped by to see how Mariet was doing. I don't want to overstay my welcome."

"Can I talk to you?" Mariet whispered to her father as he was starting out the dining room doorway.

"Of course," Snape replied, looking concerned by the urgency in his daughter's voice.

"Outside," she whispered, taking his arm. "I'll see him out," she said to the Malfoy's before retreating with Snape.

"What is it?" Snape asked once they were safely out of hearing distance.

"I need you to tell me the truth..." she said, looking around. Somehow, she still felt watched. She leaned in. "Were you and Lucius lovers?"

Snape stared at her. A few tense moments passed before he said, "Who told you that?"

Mariet kept her gaze down to the ground. "Lucius... might have mentioned it." Now that she was face to face with him, she couldn't bring herself to say what she had done with Lucius.

Snape frowned. "I see..."

She looked back up at her father. "Well? Is it true?"

Snape seemed to contemplate the situation a bit. "Yes," he sighed. "But not how you think we were... It was complicated... And not entirely fair..."

Mariet's heart sank. Lucius had been telling the truth after all.

"How did he mention it?" Snape asked, eyeing Mariet.

She felt, for one instant, as though her mind was being picked through and she quickly looked away. "Don't do that," she said. She shut him out. That was a trait she had apparently inherited from him. She was very skilled as an Occlumens when she wanted to be.

"If he says anything else to you about it... Tell me," her father said, giving her a goodbye hug. "... And if he ever does anything to you... I don't want you to stay here another second, all right?"

Mariet nodded. "All right."

Snape disapparated, leaving her standing outside alone. Why couldn't she tell him? Why couldn't she bring herself to leave immediately? Mariet felt a lump rise up in her throat as she realized that somewhere, deep down, she liked what Lucius did to her. No matter how much she had wanted to leave, she couldn't bring herself to abandon the unfinished portrait, or the Malfoys. She wondered whether her fondness for Lucius was something else she inherited from her father as she turned around and went back inside the Manor.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six- Once More, With Feeling**

Mariet retired to the guesthouse, not pausing for anyone to speak with her. She picked up the sketches that she had drawn of Lucius and studied them. They were definitely better then her usual work, especially for just rough sketches. She frowned at her half- finished profile. She set them down and went back to the bathroom to clean up the mess she had made, leaving toilet paper around the toilet where she had retched. She picked the pieces up and threw them away, pausing to look in the mirror.

She looked terrible. She could see clearly that she had been sick, which probably gave Lucius even more pleasure, to know he had gotten to her. Her hair was still in the messy spiral Lucius had wrapped his fingers in. She took it down, letting her dark locks fall down to her past her shoulders. Her hair colour and her eyes seemed to be the only physical traits she inherited from her father. She had her mother's soft features, the little pixie nose and plump mouth and creamy skin. Alexandra used to call her a porcelain doll when Mariet was younger. She smiled at the thought.

She took a long, relaxing bath, feeling somehow relieved she had admitted her feelings, no matter how sick they were.

* * *

The next morning, she was woken yet again, by the house elf Nib. She dressed and braided her hair, twisting it up in a half- bun. When she went in for breakfast, she found Draco and Lucius sitting at the table, already in the middle of their own plates. This time Draco sat at his father's side. She stood back and looked at them both for a few seconds, then joined them at her designated place on the other side of Lucius, who only stared at her as she sat down.

"Good morning," Draco said, smiling at her.

"Hi," Mariet replied, folding her napkin into her lap.

The pair smiled and laughed with each other about mishaps from school and their favourite teachers while they finished breakfast. Lucius said not a single word until he finished his plate and glared at Mariet.

"You will finish your profile today," Lucius instructed coldly, getting up from the table and leaving them alone.

* * *

Mariet wandered through the Manor with her sketches in her hands, wondering when Lucius was going to come after her to finish them. Part of her wanted nothing more to do with them and she scowled at herself for wanting to tear them up. Though she had accepted her disgusting feelings last night, she still did not forgive Lucius for what he did, and for what he could do.

She found herself walking through the hallway with the portraits of past Malfoy men. All of them, though they differed in appearances somewhat, carried the same demeanor. They all looked as though they had just bought the world and everyone in it was a slave to their wants and needs. She frowned at this, hoping Draco would not turn out the same. Each portrait glared at her as she walked by, some moved into the other's frame and whispered in their ear. No doubt they were criticizing her.

"Mariet," said a voice behind her. Mariet turned to the approaching figure of Narcissa. She was taking off an outer robe, obviously just coming in from somewhere. "How are you dear?"

"Oh, I'm fine," she said. "I'm just waiting to finish the profile sketch."

"I see... Well, since you're still waiting, could you come with me please?" Narcissa began to walk down the hallway and turned at the staircase and started to ascend it.

Mariet followed obediently, wondering silently to herself what else could possibly in store for her.

"I don't think I'll have many more opportunities like this to sit with you," Narcissa said over her shoulder, leading Mariet down yet another hallway. This one was carpeted and had a more lived- in feel, though it, like it's occupants, seemed empty of true comfort. The carpet was a deep red, like the sofa set in the parlor. The walls were the same pale pink coral colour as the downstairs hallways. Narcissa stopped at the door at the end of that stretch of hallway, for it was a corner they had come to, and it stretched out beyond to who knows where. She opened it and led Mariet inside, closing it behind her. It was a bedroom, large enough to fit the entire guesthouse in. There were white curtains hanging on large windows. The walls were now gold, though it was soft and pretty, with intricate design accenting the room. The carpet remained the deep red. The king- size bed had a white spread with gold and red pillows on top of it. There was a large vanity across the bed with an old mirror on it. The top was peppered with cosmetic bottles and perfumes. Narcissa walked into the closet, which was equally large, and hung up her robes.

Mariet stood by the door, not sure where she should go.

"Sit down," Narcissa said with a smile, motioning to the chair at the vanity. Mariet set down her sketches and pulled out the chair. It was wood, like the vanity. Narcissa conjured up a second chair next to the one Mariet occupied. It was an armchair that matched the decorum, white with gold and red trimmings.

Mariet took out a fresh sheet of parchment and a newly sharpened charcoal pencil and started her sketching.

Narcissa watched her closely. "I was never able to draw," she said lightly. "You make it look so easy."

Mariet laughed softly. "Only because I've had years of practice."

Narcissa smiled. "Did your mother start you on it?"

"No," Mariet answered. "No... she really wasn't involved... When she was involved, it was only to remind me what all I was doing wrong, and what a horrible person my father was." Mariet stopped in mid- stroke. She had said too much. She waited for Narcissa to ask who her father was.

"Oh," she said, giving Mariet a sad look. For once, Narcissa's expression seemed genuine, and Mariet hurried to capture it on the sketch. "You must look like your mother," she said after a few moments of watching the sketches' progress.

Mariet glanced up. So Narcissa knew after all. Then again, how could she not after last night's dinner? "I do. Except for the hair. She was blonde."

"She must have been pretty."

"I thought she was." The sound of smooth strokes of the pencil was heard in the pause that followed.

"How did she die?"

Mariet stopped her sketch. "Well... She killed herself."

Narcissa's expression was one of shock and pity. It was the second genuine thing to come from her in the short while they had been alone together. "I'm sorry," she said.

"It's all right," Mariet said, "... It was her choice. I only hope that she's happier now."

Narcissa sadly gazed at Mariet and leaned in to embrace her out of pity, or comfort. Mariet met the embrace with a child- like elegance, feeling strange in the arms of another woman. Her mother had never showed her any kind of affection, physical or otherwise. She closed her eyes and tried to memorize the softness of Narcissa's tiny frame. Mariet herself was rather small, and she seemed to fit together with Narcissa perfectly.

Narcissa pulled back and brushed some stray hair out of Mariet's face with a light stroke of her fingers. "You're such a pretty girl..." she said softly.

Mariet felt blood rush to her face and she smiled a small smile. "Thank you," she replied, picking up her charcoal pencil to try and resume the sketch.

Narcissa reached out and took the pencil from her, and set the sketches down on the vanity. Mariet felt her heart fluttering. Narcissa leaned in and kissed Mariet softly on her lips, gently caressing her cheek. Mariet leaned into it, returning the kiss more feverently. Narcissa pulled Mariet close to her, standing and wrapping her arms around Mariet's waist. Mariet curled her fingers in Narcissa's long hair and let her hands fall down around Narcissa's body. Narcissa pulled away from the kiss and touched Mariet's face, gently circling her fingers around Mariet's mouth and down to her neck. She leaned in and gave her several light, quick kisses and slowly led her to the king- sized bed.

Mariet let herself be put up against the bed. Narcissa slowly began undressing Mariet, and Mariet pulled at the ties of Narcissa's dress. Narcissa stood back and pulled out her wand, giving it a flick and the bedspread pulled itself down, revealing the same soft gold colour for the bed sheets. Narcissa slipped into the bed, pulling Mariet in softly beside her, leaning over her, covering her neck and collarbone in light kisses. Mariet felt herself grow hot for Narcissa and gasped aloud when Narcissa playfully stroked Mariet's breasts.

Narcissa turned and kissed Mariet once more, pulling her into it, slipping her tongue to greet Mariet's. Mariet let slip a tiny moan, grasping at Narcissa's warm body. Narcissa pulled away and slid her hands around Mariet's thighs and stomach. She let her hand linger around Mariet's sex and stroked the soft tender flesh, sending ripples of pleasure up and down Mariet's legs. Mariet felt herself gasp, her hands gripping the bed sheets.

Narcissa leaned into Mariet and kissed her again, not stopping her soft caresses of Mariet's hot sex. Narcissa's kiss was burning and Mariet pulled her closer, letting her hands slide around Narcissa's waist.

Narcissa's hand quickened its exploration of Mariet's soft flesh as Mariet's hips began to slowly move in rhythm to her motions. Tingles went up Mariet's body and she felt herself growing hotter and hotter, her skin becoming sticky with tiny sweat drops. She arched her back and cried out as she came, her hands tightly holding onto Narcissa's body. She collapsed, breathing hard and fast.

Narcissa smiled and took her hand away from Mariet's sex. She licked her fingers and slid them down to pleasure herself. Mariet leaned over and kissed Narcissa's neck and shoulder, nuzzling her hair.

Mariet didn't remember falling asleep curled against Narcissa, tangled in the sheets.

When Mariet woke, she was nestled with her back against her. But the body against her wasn't the same, soft flesh that belonged to Narcissa. The fingers that stroked her hair were not the producing the same gentle stokes as they had before. The arm wrapped firmly around her waist was not the tiny delicate arm of Narcissa, but that of her husband, Lucius.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven- Justify**

Mariet's heart leaped to her throat. She felt her breath leave her. She swallowed hard, trying to figure what her next move would be, but she couldn't string together a single thought.

She felt Lucius's breath at her ear. "Ah, Sleeping Beauty stirs," he said lowly, pulling her closer to him.

Mariet shut her eyes tight, fearful to look in the vanity mirror and see her reflection cuddled to Lucius. "Where..." she whispered, swallowing down her spiraling emotions. "Where is Narcissa?" she asked, keeping her voice soft. _Don't panic..._

Lucius purred in her ear, letting his hand rub her stomach and down her hip. "Where do you think?" Lucius said. He kissed her shoulder lightly. "She's with the man you recently began calling 'father'."

Mariet swallowed again, becoming painfully aware of Lucius's touch and the heat of his body that was wrapped tightly around her own frame. "When did she leave?"

Lucius laughed softly. "Silly girl." He stroked her hair lightly. She suddenly realized then that her hair had been taken down, though she couldn't remember when. "Narcissa never came by."

"What do you mean?" Mariet's voice trembled, though she tried to steady it. The last thing she wanted for Lucius to think is that he had flustered her. But how else could she react?

"It's really amazing how far you can get with a little Polyjuice Potion," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her neck.

She tensed.

"You didn't seem to object when you thought you were with my wife," Lucius said darkly.

Mariet didn't know what to say or what to do. "How do you expect me to feel? The last time..." she trailed off. She couldn't bring herself to utter aloud what she had done... What he had forced her to do.

Lucius pulled her to face him as though she weighed nothing. He stared at her, his steely eyes drilling into hers, causing colour to rise in her cheeks. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, giving her the same burning kiss she remembered from her last encounter with him, as well as with his "wife." She closed her eyes, feeling her heart- rate increase. She wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his long, soft, platinum hair.

Lucius rolled over, on top of Mariet, still engaging her in the kiss, letting his hands fly free over her body. She shuddered with delight, ignoring the voice screaming in the back of her head, _this is wrong._

Lucius pulled away and kissed her neck, moving down her body with light kisses. A barely audible moan escaped Mariet's lips and Lucius looked up at her and smirked. He came back up to her and kissed her again on the mouth, letting his tongue force it's way into Mariet's mouth, swirling against her own. Mariet's hands caressed Lucius's jaw. He pulled away again, looking into her eyes. For the first time, she became aware of his erection, lingering at the opening of her sex and she felt her legs tingle with anticipation. She leaned up and kissed him softly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he entered her.

She gasped as he filled her. It was not an entirely new sensation, because she had loved before. And she was not a stranger to taking things into her own hands either. But with Lucius... His body being unmistakably male and his every touch so expertly done... She had never quite felt so excitable. For once, her body yearned completely for another.

Lucius breathed in her ear and he gave her a few kisses ever now and again, with the rhythm of his body. Mariet's arms were wrapped around him, her nails clawing at his flesh. Every thrust, every moment he filled her, she felt like a thousand petals had been released into her blood and limbs. She nearly went over the edge every time his eyes swept over her body. Now that she was this close and this willing... It was almost too much.

His low, almost inaudible grunts carried her body further. Lucius's body was soon glimmering in the dim light of the bedroom from the sweat bursting from his pores. She inhaled his scent, his cologne faintly blossoming in her nostrils. She felt her body work to rock against his. Lucius picked up his pace, matching Mariet's rhythm thrust for thrust. Her legs tensed and she choked up her cry with an intake of air as she came, her back arching and her neck rearing forward, tossing her head back into the pillow. She closed her eyes, working to slow her breathing after she heard Lucius's breathy groan.

He rolled off of her, though they remained entangled. A moment passed and Mariet leaned against Lucius, who was sprawled on his back next to her. She wrapped her arm around his chest and lightly touched the tendrils of hair that played on his shoulders. "What did you mean... when you said she was with my father?" she asked after another moment of blessed silence.

Lucius let his hand fall into her own hair and he went back to stroking it, as he had before she had woken. "For the past year almost, I have not been able to pleasure my wife," he began, letting his hand slowly caress her hair with gentler strokes. "I knew after the first few times that she was seeking love from someone else. I didn't saw a word to her because I didn't know who it was... until recently."

"My father..." Mariet said, a sinking feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.

"He doesn't know I've found out. Neither does she... When I found out he had a daughter, the only thing I could think about was paying him his dues for taking my wife from me."

Mariet leaned up on her arm to face Lucius, her brow slightly furrowed.

Lucius graced her cheek with his hand. "I thought, once I hurt you, you would go to him and tell him... And he would leave my family alone. I didn't count on how much it would affect me for hurting you."

Mariet swallowed. "Because you and my father were lovers..."

Lucius shook his head. "Yes. And no. You were wronged by him as much as I was."

Mariet lightly touched his mouth, letting her fingers skim over his bottom lip. She leaned in and kissed him. She had no idea a man that had treated her with such icey brutality had any warmth in him. No matter how she tried not to see it, his point of view was very clear. The stinging words of her mother came back, running through her mind like wildfire. _'No one can trust him. Nothing matters to him except personal gain and doing his Dark Lord's favours. If you even so much as look at him cross- eyed, you're done for. He'll take everything you have until you're nothing.'_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight- Masks**

Mariet stared at her ceiling, lying restlessly in the guest bed. She and Draco ate dinner alone. She didn't know where Lucius was. She had wondered about it, but never asked. It was better to pretend she didn't care. The last thing she needed was Draco knowing she had feelings for his father. But what feelings were they?

She turned over, recalling the dinner's conversation again. They had both finished and were walking outside in the courtyard. Draco began making it custom to see her to her guest house after the meals.

He followed along beside her in silence until... "I lied," Draco said suddenly, a pleading look bright in his eyes as he reached out and held her hands.

"What?" she said, hoping he wouldn't add to her troubles.

"I don't want you to forget about it... I can't... I want to remember the kiss." He looked at her as though she could shatter him with her next words. So she chose them carefully.

"Draco... I... Did you think I could forget about it?" She tried to keep herself from running away from this. Though she cared for Draco, she didn't want him. Not now. Not that way. Perhaps if Lucius hadn't... Maybe then, she would be interested. But she wasn't. She couldn't even look at Draco without thinking of the father and of Narcissa and Snape.

Draco looked somewhat relieved. "I just... I didn't know how ... if you even thought about it... I didn't know."

Mariet pulled her hands free from his, not wanting to lead him on. "I'm tired," she stated, hoping to signal his leaving.

"All right," Draco smiled. He leaned in and kissed her very softly on her cheek. "Goodnight," he said, grinning at her and walking back to the Manor with an extra bounce in his step.

Mariet groaned and turned over on her other side. The last thing she needed right now was Draco... On top of everything else... Why did he have to feel for her? Why now?

* * *

The next morning, Mariet woke by herself, having hardly slept at all that night. She dressed, pulling her hair back into two braids that went over her shoulders and rested just at her chest. She let her fly- away hairs fly, feeling too exhausted to deal with them. She opened the guest house door to receive a blast of humidity. Apparently, during one of the few moments she had slept, it had rained. The ground was sloshy with wet grass and mud. She trudged through it, holding her pant legs up and trying to tip- toe through it, so as not to track a mess into the Manor. She seemed to have succeeded, because when she arrived in the Manor, her feet were nearly spotless. She still felt as though thousands of tiny water droplets were clinging to her skin, giving her an extra garment. Her fly- away hairs stuck to her face.

"Hi," Draco said, smiling at her. He had been waiting. "You're a little early, aren't you?"

"Am I?" Mariet tried to play it off. "I didn't know..." She stopped talking at the sight of Snape in the doorway of the drawing room.

"Good morning Mariet," he said, holding open his arms for a hug. She hesitated.

"Why are you here?" she asked, letting herself fall into his arms, though holding a bit of distance between them.

"I came by to see you. I told you I would..." Snape released her, seeming to sense her distance.

Mariet smiled a little. "I forgot I guess..."

"You forgot? You haven't been here but a week."

"I know. It just... seems longer... with work, you know... I have a lot of things on my mind."

Snape eyed his daughter, not buying a word of her story. He dropped the subject. "Let's have breakfast, shall we?"

Mariet and Draco followed Snape into the dining room. Lucius was already seated, as was Narcissa. Mariet and Draco took their usual places at the table, leaving Snape at his place by his daughter.

For several moments, the atmosphere was silent and tense. Snape and Narcissa exchanged several glances, which Mariet was quick to catch. She wondered if they had done that when he stayed for dinner a while back or not. Lucius ate with his gaze on his plate.

"Oh, Mariet, before I forget..." Narcissa said, leaning down and picking something up from between herself and Draco. "This is yours, yes?"

Mariet's eyes widened for an instant as she saw the sketches she had done of Narcissa... or who she had believed to be Narcissa at the time. "Yes..."

"I found them on my vanity this morning..." Narcissa raised a curious eyebrow, passing the sketches across the table.

"Oh.. well..." Mariet felt Lucius staring at her. "I worked on them yesterday... From memory and all. I wanted to make sure you approved of them, so I left them with your house- elf..." Mariet's heart was pounding as fast as her mind came up with a cover. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lucius incline his head slightly and continue eating.

"I remember you telling me you could do work like that from memory... I just never knew you could be so detailed... They're lovely," Narcissa commented, buying Mariet's lie.

Mariet forced a smile. "I try my best... I know it isn't realistic... I was playing with expressions, as you can probably tell."

Narcissa nodded. "It's nice. Perhaps I could have a sit- in with you soon. It's just been so hectic lately for me. I hardly have any free time."

Snape leaned over and peered at the sketches as Mariet hurried to place them under her chair. "That's understandable. There's no rush... I can always improvise."

Narcissa smiled at Mariet and the awkward silence loomed over the table again.

* * *

Soon, Narcissa and Lucius had left for the day and Mariet was left alone with Draco and her father. Draco excused himself shortly after his mother left. Mariet led Snape to the guest house to show him around.

"I haven't really started on the actual painting yet, but I'm getting there. All I need is a few more sketches and I'm set," she said as she opened the door.

"That's good to hear," Snape said, following Mariet inside into the large room that remained covered in blank canvas. She had set the table up against the wall and tacked up several of her sketches she had done from memory when she couldn't sleep on the wall over the drawing table. Snape walked over to them and looked them over. "I see several of Lucius..."

Mariet stood behind him. "He's been kind enough to have more sit- in's with me. Draco disappears during the day and Narcissa is never home... not really." She studied her father's face at the mention of Narcissa. It was devoid of emotion, as always.

"Has he been good to you?" Snape asked, turning to face his daughter.

"Yes," Mariet answered.

Snape looked as though he didn't quite believe her then either. "You would tell me if something happened, wouldn't you?"

"I would. But there hasn't been anything... " She swallowed. "What are you worried about? Specifically? What are you so worried he'll do?"

Snape sighed and pulled out the wooden chair by the drawing table and sat in it. "He's capable of many things, Mariet. He's not a stranger to cruelties."

Mariet pulled over the plushed chair and sat across from him so she could study his face. "Go on."

"I take it you mean when we were lovers..."

"What else would I mean?"

Snape nodded. "Of course." He swallowed and clasped his hands together. "It was during my time at Hogwarts... It was my sixth year... His too. We were both in the same house, but had never spoken. Then one day, out of the blue, he cornered me in the library."

Mariet raised an eyebrow. She listened intently as her father told of how Lucius forced him to do many things, sexually and otherwise. According to him, Lucius was desired by pretty much everyone. He carried himself as a true Malfoy, never accepting no for an answer, and doing everything on his own terms. Snape did everything for him. Sexual favours, school studies, spell craft... anything Lucius had told him to do, he did. And in return? Lucius befriended him. Snape had had no real comrades or acquaintances when he was in school. To him, it was a relief to finally have someone to speak to, as an equal. But at times, Snape felt that he had gotten the wrong end of the bargain. There were instances when Lucius would force him to go down on him, as he had done with Mariet. Other times, Snape was forced to submit to brutal beatings.

"You could have told someone," Mariet said after Snape finally finished his monologue.

Snape looked taken aback. "What was I supposed to have said? It wasn't something I wanted broadcasted around."

"Then you must not have minded... Not really... Not if you took it from him for so long." Mariet stopped at the last word. She could tell by her father's face that her words had stung.

"That is something your mother would have said," Snape finally remarked, looking away from his daughter.

Mariet sighed. "I'm sorry... It's just... What else am I supposed to say? I had no idea who you were, really were until now, or so I thought..." She paused, trying to formulate the right words in her mind. "Why didn't you tell me this before? Why... if Lucius is such a threat to you, did you let me come here in the first place?"

Snape looked at his daughter sadly. "Because you wanted to come. You wouldn't have listened if I had told you no. Not when I just established a place in your life."

Mariet nodded, staring at her father. He was right. She wouldn't have listened. If anything, she would have come to the Manor to spite him. "You should have told me..." she said. His story did not surprise her in the least. It was exactly how she expected it would be. Lucius acted the same way now, how he carried himself, how one look could cause someone to go weak in the knees... All the same.

Mariet wasn't sure how to acknowledge her father anymore. All her life she was submitted to her mother constantly telling her her father was a liar, a deceitful creature not to be trusted. And if Lucius was right and he was involved with Narcissa... then her mother was right. She smiled bitterly. Though her mother had been cruel, she wasn't one to lie.

She bit back the question rising in her throat. Snape must have seen it on her face because he said, "What is it?"

"I saw the way you looked at Narcissa... during breakfast..." she said, trying to be as casual about it as she could.

For once, she saw something flicker in her father's expression. It was only for a second, but it was enough. "How I looked at her?" She could almost hear Snape's mind trying to work out a cover up.

"Do you love her?"

Snape stared aghast at his daughter. "I..."

"That shouldn't be a stumper," she retorted. "I've seen that look only once before, and it was in an old photograph of you and my mother."

Snape furrowed his brow. "I don't dislike Narcissa," he said.

"That wasn't my question." She leaned forward and put a hand tenderly on his arm. "It's all right, you know, if you do... People are allowed to love."

Snape continued to stare at Mariet, as though trying to figure the best way to get out of the situation. "She's a dear friend... I do love her, but... as a friend."

Mariet celebrated a bitter victory inside. Lucius had been right. Her mother had been right. Snape had looked into his daughter's eyes and lied to her.


	9. Chapter 9

**_Author's Note: This chapter contains a little bit of incestuous behaviour, so if it's not your thing, I suggest you skip this chapter. It's not really that bad, in my personal opinion, but some may stillfind it offensive. So, I want no flames telling me I'm sick or disturbed or whatever. My fic, my rules. I didn't make you read this._**

**Chapter Nine- Like Father, Like Son**

By the time Severus left the Manor, it was well past noon. Mariet spent the rest of the afternoon with one of the medium- sized canvases in the guest house. On it, she was painting a view of the Manor, playing with lighting and landscape. She was nearing the finish when there came another rapping on her door. It was neither soft, nor sharp, so she was blind to who was calling her.

She left her canvas and set her brush down on a bit of wrapped up napkin on the table. She opened her door to find Draco. He was holding a plate of steaming food and a clear glass of tea. "You never showed for dinner..." he said meekly, carefully bringing her food inside.

"Oh," she said, stunned to see how dark the sky was. "I didn't realize..."

Draco set her plate and glass down on the little drawing table and stood back to look at her painting. "I guess you had good reason to miss it, huh..."

Mariet smiled and sat down, ready to devour her food. She hadn't realized until that moment how hungry she was. "Sometimes when I paint... I don't see anything else."

Draco stood as though mesmerized, gazing at Mariet's new creation. "It's really good..."

"Thank you," Mariet smiled. She cut into the meat on her plate and ate a piece, relishing its smokey flavour. Nib had done a good job tonight.

Draco turned away from the painting after admiring it for several more seconds. "I'm sorry you never got a sketch of me..." he said, looking over at the sketches she had pinned over the table on the wall.

"It's all right," she said after taking a sip of her tea.

After finishing her meal, Mariet's plate, glass, and cutlery vanished from sight. "I could work on your sketch now..." she said, as Draco was not leaving.

Draco sat down on the large plush chair. "If you want to..."

Mariet smiled and took out her charcoal pencil and parchment. This time, she would finish a sketch, even if she had to tie him to the chair to keep him from doing anything. There was a part of her that wanted to hurry through and finish the damned portrait and get away from all this chaos.

She was putting the finishing touches on the sketch when Draco stood up. "You know... I..." Draco said, looking everywhere else in the guest house but at Mariet. "I know you probably don't care how I feel... but... I..."

"Draco, of course I care," Mariet said, setting aside the sketch and standing. "Why would you say that I didn't?"

Draco swallowed. "Because... because of the way I acted... act... I know you don't like it when people can't get their words out..."

Mariet sighed. "Why would that make me not care for you?" She walked over to him, getting in front of him so he would have to look at her. When he tried to look away, she repeated, "Why would that make me not care for you?" She touched his cheek with the back of her hand, trying to comfort the distressed expression he wore.

"I love you... Mariet... I..." Draco stepped away from her, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Mariet stared at him. Her mouth had opened, but words never surfaced. Her mind was blank. It was as though she had been punched in the stomach. "Draco..." she managed to say, though she wasn't sure if he had heard her.

"Don't. Just... Don't say anything," Draco said, backing away from her. "I shouldn't have..." He backed all the way to the guest house door and tore out of it, leaving it swinging on its hinges.

* * *

Breakfast the next morning was a silent affair. Lucius hardly spoke, as usual, keeping his attention to his food. Narcissa stole a few glances to Mariet. _He must have told her... _she thought, referring to her bitter last words with her father the previous morning. Draco mimicked Lucius, eating silently and privately. Mariet felt as though she were intruding, and was the first to finish her food. She left the table with a soft, "Excuse me," and left for her guest house. 

She looked at her painting, the one she had finished after Draco left her. It was dry now, and complete. The Manor in the spring. She had imagined the colour of the flowers on the trees surrounding the home, and the clouds hovering in the sky. She touched the dried canvas, letting her fingers absorb the uneven layout of the paint on the tiny details. She looked at all the miniscule brush strokes, and how, up close, the painting looked like a mess of colour and jumbled scenery. She propped the canvas on the wall and pulled out another one. This one was one of the smaller ones, hardly bigger than a picture frame for a polaroid.

She had just placed the little canvas on her drawing table when she was startled by a loud crack. Nib, the house elf had appeared in the room, looking timid and frightened, as usual. She looked around the room for a second before she spotted Mariet. "Miss... Young Master Malfoy wishes to speak with you... In the main house..." Nib squeaked out.

"All right," Mariet said. With a second crack of air, Nib disappeared.

* * *

Mariet found Draco waiting for her in the drawing room. She sighed as she entered it. This room seemed to be the centre of goings on in this place. 

He stood when he saw her. "I'm-"

"Please don't apologize," Mariet interrupted, seeing the popular phrase in his blue eyes.

His gaze dropped to the floor. "What do you want me to do?"

She stood back, distraught at his helplessness. He never acted this way during school. Of course not. He is always too busy trying to put up a hard front for the Potter boy and his friends. And for his father... Part of her adored his new mushy interior that she had been exposed to. So much of her wanted to hold him tight in her arms and comfort him. She stood in front of him and tilted his chin up with her hand so he would look at her. "Do what you feel is right," she said softly. "And don't be ashamed of it."

Draco touched his hand on hers and held it softly. He pulled her to him gently, staring into her eyes. She gazed into his own liquid blue eyes that were so much like his father's... And yet... His were softer. They had yet to develop the fierceness that Lucius had. They were less icey, still full of boyish wonder. Draco leaned in and kissed Mariet softly, as before, on the lips.

Mariet did not fight him off, nor did she hesitate to kiss him in return. This is how she should be feeling... She shouldn't be longing for a married man... She put her arms around his waist, pulling them yet closer together. Draco's hand hovered over her cheek. He pulled away and smiled at her. "You're not angry with me?" he asked.

Mariet laughed. "Why would I be angry with you?"

Draco looked at her pitifully. "I have a knack for infuriating people."

"Well, you haven't infuriated me," Mariet replied, smiling even more at his boyishness. He looked so feminine right then... His features were so soft, lacking the fully masculine structure of Lucius, though Draco resembled him in so many ways.

Draco kissed her again, very softly, just brushing his lips across hers. Mariet smiled into the kiss, pulling away playfully. _So innocent..._ she thought. _This is how it should feel._

Mariet brushed away the blonde tendrils that lingered over Draco's eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her inward, leaning in to kiss her once more.

"Draco," said a piercing voice from the other side of the drawing room. Mariet and Draco flew apart as though they had had cold water flung on them.

"Yes father?" Draco said, his face flushed. Lucius rounded the corner of the room.

"I was calling you," Lucius said, eyeing the two. "Why didn't you answer?"

"I... I didn't hear you..." Draco replied, lowering his gaze away from his father's.

"Then you need to learn to listen," Lucius said coldly. Mariet noticed his arms tensing and his right hand poised as though ready to fly at his son. "Come with me," he said to Draco, making an about- face and walking back where he came.

Draco followed.

Mariet fidgeted and sat down on the sofa, hearing her heard hammering in her skull. She shook from the adrenaline of nearly getting caught. Though, why was she hiding? Even Lucius should know she is better off with his son than with him. For one thing, Draco wasn't married with children.

Mariet stood up immediately upon hearing the sound of footsteps coming back into the room. Draco appeared from the hallway, a strange expression on his face. "He... He wants you to come too..."

* * *

Mariet followed the two Malfoy's down a hallway she had not seen before. It led to another wing of the Manor. The walls were a shade of grey- blue that resembled their eyes. The floor was all marble and the sound of their strides echoed through the long hallways. No one said a word as they made their way into the other wing. Mariet's stomach clenched with butterflies of the most unpleasant kind. She couldn't explain it, but for some reason, she felt that she knew what was coming. 

Lucius led them up another curved staircase and down another hallway. He stopped at a set of large dark wood doors. He opened one of them and motioned Draco inside. He closed it and turned to Mariet.

She took a step backwards, being unable to decipher his expression. "What is going on?" she asked finally.

Lucius smirked at her. "I thought you would have picked up on it by now." He stepped forward and ran his fingers down her cheek. "If you're going to play on both sides, you may as well have them together."

Mariet's eyes widened. "But-"

Lucius held his finger to his lips and opened the door for her. She walked hesitantly inside, her heart sounding as though it were skipping beats. Her gut feeling had been right. Yet somehow, she was still unable to grasp this was actually happening.

The room she had entered was a large bedroom. The blue that coloured the walls in the hallway faded to a shade of green in this room, accenting the large four- poster canopied bed that lay in the center of the spacious chamber. Large glass doors provided the only source of light. They looked as though they would lead to a balcony.

Before Mariet could absorb any more of the room's decor, she heard the doors shut and lock, and she felt herself being pulled into the strong arms of Lucius from behind. He kept one arm around her waist, his hand spreading out over her stomach. His other hand graced her chest, his hand fanning over her neck, tilting her head to the side as he kissed it lightly.

She closed her eyes and felt herself grow almost feverish at his touch. When she opened them again, she was face to face with Draco. The look in his eyes was no longer the innocence she had remembered. His eyes were now full of a hungry fire that reminded her sharply of Lucius. She swallowed and reached out to him. He kissed her hand and leaned in to graze his lips against hers.

Her skin felt like it was on fire as they both disrobed her. Her skin prickled as the cold air fell over it. Lucius wrapped himself around her and she felt herself being lifted and carried over to the bed. It was already turned down, revealing light green sheets. She felt her body trembling as the two slid in on either side of her. Lucius smirked at her, watching her quiver like a frightened animal, and slid his hands over her body. Draco touched her cheek with his hand, bringing her attentions to him. "Don't be afraid," he whispered in her ear before kissing her.

She was not afraid. She was terrified. What she was in the middle of was wrong in so many ways, but she could not help herself. She delighted in the thought of having both the father and the son.

Draco took her first. He lay over her, smothering her in fevered kisses. His skin was hot and it burned against her own. His touches, though not as expertly placed as the father's, were passionate and reflected pure hormonal lust. He wasted no time in ravishing her body, entering her with quick force. He was no stranger to the act of love, she was sure of it. She felt even more driven, rolling around with Draco, as she felt the eyes of Lucius on them, watching them. When Draco had finished, he rolled over away from her and his father.

Lucius pulled her over to him and kissed her, running his hands through her hair. Her body screamed in his touch, already sensitive to the very air molecules from her encounter with the son. And, though she was satisfied by him, she longed for the more experienced touch of Lucius. She wondered of Draco knew that...

Lucius pulled her over on top of him, letting her touch his chest and shoulders. His eyes were full of hunger as he let them wander over her exposed body. He cupped her breasts in his hands and stroked her down her stomach to her legs that were wrapped around him. She tossed her head back, feeling revived by this hands. She began to ride him, first, slowly and gently. She felt his hands wrap around her hips and guide her more quickly. She looked back down at him, connecting with his gaze. Just one glance from him and she felt herself coming. She rode him harder and clasped her hands in his, crying out and flinging her head back, letting all her inhibitions go. Lucius came quietly, as he had before.

She fell in between them, father, and son, and let herself be enfolded in both their embraces. Draco turned over when he felt her next to him again. She wondered why he did not watch as well. But then, as she kissed them both, she realized she really didn't care.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten- Silhouettes**

"You should wear your hair like that more often," Mariet laughed, ruffling Draco's hair with her fingers.

Draco smiled. "Why, so you can mess with it every time you get a chance?"

Lucius had slipped away from the pair while they slept, so Mariet was left to wake in the arms of only one of her lovers. She wished he had stayed. However, she was content to roll around with the son, as much as with the father.

She lay back down on her stomach, the sheets curled around her backside. She propped her head up with her hands, looking back down at the sketches she had compiled. Lucius had been kind enough to leave her supplies behind for her to find and use when they woke. She had finished two, and was working on a third, though its progress was slow now that Draco was awake.

The first she had done of both Lucius and Draco, wrapped around each other in the sheets. That was one of her favourite sketches, though she was entirely sure she would be pinning it up with the rest. Something told her that Snape would not be as happy about it as she was. The second was of Draco asleep. She had been half- tempted to attach wings to the naked shoulders of the boy, his face being so innocent and cherub- like as he slumbered. And the last was of him awake, though only a few lines of it were done.

"You have all summer," Draco said, leaning over and taking her sketches away from her.

"I know," she said, reaching over him to take them back, but he held them out further.

"There is a time for work and a time for ... other things," Draco teased, turning over and setting them aside on the little table that sat to the right of the bed.

Mariet raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

* * *

Draco and Mariet came downstairs laughing, enjoying one another's puns. It was now time for dinner and Mariet ran quickly to put her sketches away. She didn't think Narcissa would appreciate them either. When she came back, she tip- toed in, curious as to the sounds of hushed voices. She peered cautiously around the corner into the drawing room. In the far corner, partially hidden in shadow, she saw the form of Narcissa. She seemed to be pleading. Her eyes widened as she made out the other figure with her. Snape.

Mariet turned away from them, her heart pounding. What was he doing here? She thought he wouldn't be back for at least another day, especially after their last conversation. She found it hard to believe he was this eager to see his daughter after revealing those intimate details of his past with her.

She shut her eyes and tried to listen. Though she'd rather stay out of their affair, she was still a female. Curiousity and the thirst for knowledge was natural.

"... What are you doing here?" Narcissa said hurriedly. Her voice was soft and hushed. Mariet could barely hear her.

"I can't just not see you," Snape said, quietly, but not was low as Narcissa.

"She knows, Severus. And if she knows, he probably does too. We can't risk this."

"Do you know for sure? Honestly Cissa, if Lucius had any idea, don't you think he would have confronted you with it by now? He was never one for subtlety." Mariet watched undetected as her father grasped Narcissa's hands and held them to him.

"I don't know... I just don't want you coming over here to often. He may get suspicious..."

"Cissa... Cissa, listen to me. He can't 'get suspicious'. My daughter is working on his portrait. I have every right to be here. Even more so than she..."

Narcissa sighed and framed her hand around Snape's face. "I just don't want to get you hurt," she said, leaning in close to him. It happened before Mariet could look away. Snape and Narcissa locked themselves in a kiss.

Mariet choked on the air she was breathing and backed away. It was one thing to hear about an affair... It was entirely different to witness it. She put her hand to her chest. How could he do this? How could he involve himself with a married woman? He knew better than that.

_But you're involved too. Who is sleeping with a married man?_ the spiteful voice inside her hissed. But with her it was different. Lucius was different. She didn't go after him with the agenda- _But you didn't stop him._ _You're enjoying it. _

She closed her eyes and forced herself into some sort of composure. She couldn't let herself fall apart. Not now. She took several deep breaths. _Just accept it. All of us are in some way involved. It can't be helped. Just move on. Walk in there, pretend you didn't see, and have dinner. _

Once her heart rate was back to normal, she cleared her throat, smoothed out her hair and waltzed into the drawing room. Snape and Narcissa broke apart from each other in a fashion similar to how Draco and she had done just hours before.

"Hello," she said, putting on an airy smile.

"Mariet..." Narcissa said weakly, but Mariet had already bounced her way through to the dining room.

* * *

"And they know you're aware of them?" Lucius asked, running his hands through Mariet's long hair.

"Yes," she answered. She had repeated to Lucius everything she had seen. After all, he knew they were having the affair. She may as well fill him in on the details. Whether she liked it or not, she was a part of this too. Lucius was betraying Narcissa just as she was betraying him.

Lucius frowned. "You would think they would end it now that someone knows... Unless..." He didn't finish.

Mariet ran a delicate finger across his jaw and down to his hair. She didn't press for him to continue. He didn't need to say anything else. _Unless they really love each other._


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven- Lullaby for the Unwell**

All that was heard in the guest house was the smooth sound of charcoal upon a canvas. Mariet stood, hunched over, drawing the two figures of the Malfoy men onto the off- white stitched cloth. Lucius was in the center, his hand on the shoulder of the son. She had yet to add a face to Narcissa. She knew she couldn't use the sketches she had made of her, because, well, that wasn't Narcissa. She stood up and stepped over the canvas, stretching her back. Her muscles ached and her neck was stiff.

She drew on the canvas this way because she couldn't sketch particularly well if it wasn't lying down in front of her. The hardest thing about painting the fresco at the chapel was the sketch. She couldn't stand having to try and draw definite proportions on a vertical page, no matter what it was made of.

She sighed happily to herself. The sketch looked wonderful. All she needed was a genuine expression from Narcissa and she could begin the painting of the portrait.

She laughed. _Genuine expression. That's going to be a tough one_. Everything she had seen of the real Narcissa was forced and lacking of any feeling. _Except of course, when she's with my father._

She tossed her charcoal pencil over onto the table and propped the sketched canvas up against the wall with the others. She had been working on it for most of the day and she was tired of leaning over it. She washed her hands clean of the charcoal dust and had just sat down on her bed for a moment of relaxation when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

She sighed and walked over to answer it half- heartedly. She really didn't want to see anyone just now. She wanted to be alone and perhaps take a cat nap. She had been expecting Draco at the door, but was surprised by the face of Narcissa staring at her when she opened it up.

"Nar- Mrs. Malfoy... What are you doing here?" Mariet asked, feeling a little surprised, but then suspicious. The last time she was alone with Narcissa, it wasn't really her. But Lucius wasn't the type of man to do the same thing twice...

"Oh, I decided to come by... I was free and I thought now would be a good time for a sketch... Unless you're busy..." Narcissa answered, forcing a smile.

"It's all right," she stood to the side to let Narcissa pass. "I wasn't doing anything important."

Narcissa entered the guest house stiffly. Her expression was playing on the lines of nervousness and anxiety. Mariet took note of this as she closed the door behind her.

"You can sit..." she said, motioning to the large plush chair and was pushed up next to the wall of sketches. Mariet hurried over to the table she usually did her drawing on and covered up her sketches of the boys in the green bedroom with a blank canvas.

Narcissa didn't seem to notice as she gazed across at the finished paintings Mariet has done in her spare time. Her eyes roamed over them and came to rest upon the sketched canvas of the family portrait. She seemed shaken for an instant. If Mariet didn't know better, she would have said it was with guilt.

"I was waiting to put the finishing touches on your figure... For after we had a sit- in..." She rearranged her little drawing table and picked up her charcoal pencil and began lightly sketching Narcissa before waiting to make casual conversation. She found that it was easier to just get right to it rather than dawdle.

"It's very lovely..." Narcissa said softly, seemingly unable to tear her eyes away from the canvas.

Mariet paused to look up at the distraught woman. "Thank you..."

Narcissa heaved out a small sigh and turned back to Mariet, the sides of her mouth twitching as though she was fighting to say something. Or keep herself from saying it.

Mariet tilted her head to the side, making a guess at what the issue was. "I have nothing against you..." she said. "I mean... Your involvement with my father... I'm not angry or bitter or anything." She waited. Narcissa seemed frozen. She turned her attention back down to her sketch and made a few more lines across the parchment when Narcissa spoke.

"I wanted to end it, you know," she said, her tone reflecting an accusation. It was as though she didn't believe Mariet and was trying to justify her position with her. "He wouldn't listen..."

Mariet's hand paused in mod- stroke. "I know," she said quietly. She didn't bother making eye contact. It was awkward enough without actually looking at her father's lover in the eyes. "He loves you."

Narcissa shifted in the large plush chair. Mariet heard it's coils creak against her weight. "I don't want you to think I am trying to break you two apart... I would never do that..."

The sound of the dull pencil against the parchment was the answer Mariet gave her. She felt her entire vocabulary vapourize in her bloodstream. What could she say to her? What was Narcissa trying to get out of this?

Narcissa shifter her weight in the plush chair again. "Mariet... Have you..." Narcissa swallowed. "Have you told anyone about this?"

Mariet set down her pencil and sat up, looking directly into Narcissa's eyes. "I haven't given you two away. I wouldn't do that." She felt her stomach leap. But she wasn't lying. Lucius had told _her_ of the affair. Not the other way around. Filling in a few details wasn't ratting out on someone. Especially if the one they were telling them to already knew.

Narcissa sighed aloud, as if relieved. "I knew you wouldn't... I mean... Your father had faith in you."

Mariet let her mouth form a half- smile. "What you two do is your business. Not mine."

Narcissa inclined her head, seeming to nod. "Mariet..." She stared at her hands and clasped them together tightly. There was something bothering her, Mariet knew that much. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course..." she replied, getting more worried by the second. There was another piece missing. She could feel it. And Narcissa was just about to fit it all together.

"I want to tell someone... at least... Not even Severus knows... Not yet anyway..." Narcissa avoided looking at Mariet.

"What is it?" Mariet asked softly, getting up from her chair and walking over to stand by Narcissa.

Before she knew it, Narcissa's hands had flown out and grasped Mariet's tightly. Narcissa had tears streaming down her face and her nose and eyes were puffy from it. "I... I'm carrying his child..." she said, looking pleading at Mariet.

Mariet froze. "Y-You're..." she stammered. She couldn't believe it. Narcissa pregnant? With Snape's child? She tried to block out all the images bombarding her mind of her father and Narcissa together. "I don't know what to say..." she replied finally. And it was the truth.

"Please don't tell him. I... I didn't come to you for that. No..." Narcissa said, almost begging.

"Tell my father?"

Narcissa nodded. "I only wanted... someone to know. Someone I could trust. And, as you can see, I can't dare tell Lucius... He would..." she trailed off.

"Not understand..." Mariet finished. "Don't worry," she said. "I won't tell anyone." But in the back of her mind she knew. One day, that day was soon, Lucius would have to know.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve- Firing the Love**

_Narcissa is carrying my father's child... _Mariet closed her eyes and felt the water streaming down her face. The bathroom was steamed up with her shower. The mirror was filmed in a sticky fog. _Narcissa is carrying my father's child_... she thought again. _What am I going to do?_

She turned around and let the water come in tides down her back, slicking her hair away from her face. She put her hands up to her eyes and rubbed them free of the droplets that stuck to her eyelashes. She sighed, then inhaled deeply, trying her best to keep herself in check. She didn't need to break down. Though, going through all the incidents that happened in the past two weeks, she wondered if she was going insane. _The moment I stepped into this house... It's madness._

She sniffed, feeling her airways congest as she held back her tears. She didn't know why she should be crying. Children should bring happiness. They are happy things. But not, of course, when they could be the reason two families would break apart.

"There is no need to cry," Lucius said softly, wrapping her in his arms.

Mariet startled. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Lucius's kiss. He turned her to face him and buried her mouth in his own, pressing her against the cold tile of the shower. Water droplets streamed down their faces, making the kiss slippery. She tried to pull apart from him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked breathily, trying to ignore the appeal Lucius still had, even with half- wet hair and a sopping body.

"Do you want me to leave?" Lucius asked, kissing her lightly and pushing her soaking hair off her shoulder.

Mariet gripped his shoulders, her body rippling all over with heat. "No," she whispered. "I want you to stay."

Lucius kissed her again, pinning her arms down by her sides. She could back no further into the tile wall. Lucius's body seemed so large and hot in the shower, so close and tight next to her. Another wave of heat flickered though her body and she felt herself grow wet and ready for him.

"Tell me you want me," Lucius whispered in her ear, kissing her lightly just behind her earlobe.

Mariet closed her eyes and felt her head tilt back as he nuzzled her neck. "I want you," she said, finding his touch almost painfully pleasurable. Perhaps it was because of the water that beat down on them like a late summer storm.

Lucius kissed her again, his hand sliding down her waist and coming to rest between her legs. He let his fingers slip inside of her, gently pressing against the soft flesh of her sex. Mariet let out a small moan, wanting to take his hand and force it further inside her. Lucius massaged her wet, slick sex and then pulled his hand away to taste her nectar on his tongue.

Mariet felt as though she was drowning as his eyes tore through her, as they had every time he looked at her.

Lucius held Mariet close to him, slowly turning her as he kissed her shoulders and felt her soft flesh underneath his hands. He leaned against her, placing her hands upon the tile wall that they now faced. He played with her aching breasts, running his hands lightly across them. The shower water now drenched them from behind. Lucius kissed her shoulder blades and pulled her hair around off her back. He held her around the waist with one arm, the other propping himself against the tile wall she held her hands to.

"Tell me you want me," he said again. He entered her from behind, forcing his way roughly into her sex and she gasped aloud.

"I want you," she said as she tried to hold steady to the wet tile.

Lucius started riding her roughly, pressing them up against the tile. She felt as though at any moment, her legs would give way and she would fall, but he held tight to her, his breath hot in her ear as he penetrated her.

"Say it again," he said hoarsely, his rhythm quickening.

"I want you," she said, her voice carrying over into a soft, crisp, cry as she felt her sex spasming and her legs shake.

Lucius only let a low hum in her ear as his own pleasure was released. Mariet gasped for breath as the steam from the shower threatened to suffocate her. Lucius turned her back around and kissed her, letting her lean back on the tile she had just been clinging to. Their bodies were covered in a mixture of sweat and hot water. They stuck to each other and to the tiling because of it. Mariet smiled.

Lucius held her under the shower head, washing out her matted hair. He massaged her scalp gently, leaning in and kissing her jaw as he tilted her head backward to catch the water on her long hair.

She felt his chest, relishing his tight muscles at her fingertips. His face was flushed with red and his fair skin was blotched with pink patches. She imagined hers appeared the same way.

He leaned over her and shut off the valve and the shower decreased its pressure to a soft drip drip, as the water seized. Lucius carried Mariet out of the shower, wrapping her up in a large towel, and engaged her in another kiss. She stood on tip- toe, kissing him back even more so than he had probably expected.

The steam that remained in the bathroom gave her hot flashes of the unpleasant sort. Lucius had another towel wrapped around his waist. His chest, now a little less blotched pink, glistened with tiny water droplets.

Mariet opened the bathroom door to receive a shock of cold air from the main of the guest house. It was really that cold, but compared to their hot shower, it was freezing. She gripped the towel around her and laughed out loud.

They crossed over quickly to the bedroom, scampering across the main room like two newlyweds up to no good. Lucius sat against the headboard of the twin bed and Mariet sat straddling him. They kissed each other and Lucius held her closely, letting her settle in on his lap, leaning back against his chest. He kissed her neck and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Why did you come here?" Mariet asked, letting his hand slide through hers.

"You weren't inside the Manor," he replied softly, moving her wet hair off her shoulder. She felt a chill and her skin erupted in tiny bumps. Lucius chuckled and curled her up to him. He kissed her shoulders and the back of her hand.

"Is that the only reason?" she asked, twirling a damp lock of his platinum hair in her fingers.

"No," Lucius replied, but before he could continue, there was a loud knock at the guest house door. Mariet stiffened. "Go on," Lucius said, helping Mariet off the bed.

Mariet fidgeted with her towel, wishing she had charmed herself a set of clothes, but the knocking wouldn't seize. She opened the door a crack. "Father... What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to stay calm.

Snape furrowed his brow at his daughter. "Can I come in? I have something to discuss."

Mariet hesitated, fearing both that Lucius would be found and that the topic of conversation would be his child; her half sibling. She opened the door and let him in. "This really isn't a good time..." she said softly.

Snape stepped in, ignoring Mariet's attempts at protests. "This isn't something that can wait."

Mariet closed the door and motioned for her father to sit. "Is... this... is this about what Narcissa came about?" she said quietly, trying hard to keep Lucius from eavesdropping.

Snape stared blankly at her.

"Father?" Mariet asked, arching a concerned eyebrow. But as she looked, she found he wasn't staring at her, but past her. Mariet's jaw clenched as she turned around.

"What are you doing here?" Snape demanded, sounding as though he temporarily lost his voice. Lucius was leaning against the bedroom doorway in nothing but the bathroom towel.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen- Quilted Hearts**

Lucius didn't reply. He merely gazed at Snape with a bemused expression.

'What are you doing here?" Snape demanded again, his voice quivering.

Lucius smirked. "You're a smart man Severus. You know why I am here." He stood back from his leaning posture in the doorway and crossed the room to come behind Mariet. He pulled her back, placing his hands on her waist. He leaned over her shoulder, kissing her hair lightly.

Snape's expression glimmered from its blank shock to one of disgust, and then back again. "How could you... You..."

"You screw my wife, I screw your daughter," Lucius said matter- of- factly, sneering at his old lover.

Snape backed up a few paces and rushed at the door, pulling it open in a defeated manner and disappearing from the property.

Mariet stood in the guest house, a wealth of emotions surging in her stomach. "You shouldn't have done that..." she whispered.

Lucius laughed. "Would you rather he see it in Draco's eyes? You know how invasive he can be-"

Mariet huffed out a small sob and circled back to the bedroom, shutting the door behind her, not inviting Lucius inside. She fell down on her bed and curled underneath the covers. She clung to the pillow and cried into it. But she wasn't crying because of what Lucius had done, or that her father now knew of their affair. She was crying because it wasn't Lucius Snape had been looking at when he finally spoke. He was looking straight at her. She had betrayed his trust in more ways than one. And she knew it. _What have I done?_

OoOoOo

Mariet didn't recall falling asleep. When she finally woke, the sky was a dim blue. It was nearing dawn. She sat up and felt a rush of cold as the covers slipped away from her. She got up and dressed quickly, cringing as her eyes stung each time they opened. The knots that had been in her stomach were gone. Now she felt only numbness. She didn't bother brushing out her tangled, air- dried hair. She twisted it up and secured it with a large hair tie.

She circled the guest house, no destination in mind, no thoughts plaguing her. Everything was clear as water. Lucius had used her to get back at her father. That was all it was. He didn't truly care for her. If he had, he wouldn't have made such a scene and she would still be innocent in Snape's eyes. She gazed down at the unfinished family portrait and felt nothing for it. It seemed so meaningless. It was just a cover, she knew. Anyone could have painted their portrait. She was picked for a reason.

OoOoOo

"We didn't see you for meals..." Draco said when Mariet opened the guest house door to him that evening. It was true; she hadn't left the guest house at all that day. She passed the hours working tirelessly finishing the ridicules painting. Much of it was painted, but she still had another day and a half's labour. If, that is, she kept to it this time.

Draco set a tray of food down on the drawing table and closed the door. He sat down in the cushioned chair and pulled it up to face her as she ate her meal. She only stared at the hot food for a moment. "Thank you," she said softly, finally picking up her fork when her stomach churned noisily. She ate silently, taking small bites.

"Are you all right?" Draco asked, his eyes shining brightly with worry.

"Sure," she said, not looking at him.

"Liar," he replied. "Tell me what's wrong."

Mariet looked helplessly at Draco. What could she say to him? How much did he really know? Was he a part of this too? He was, after all, the one who suggested her to come here.

"I don't want you to hate me..." she said finally. And that was true. She needed Draco's love now more than before. He was the only one she hadn't disappointed. He was the only one who truly cared for her... or acted like it.

Draco leaned forward and held her hand, which was sitting on her napkin. "I could never hate you," he said softly.

Mariet felt tears welling up again in her eyes. "I'm so ashamed of myself," she said. And then she repeated everything that had happened to her, from her first encounter with Lucius, to the last moment her father looked at her in betrayal and disgust. She poured out all of the emotions she had been holding back, every single thing she had wanted to say and do but couldn't. And the more she talked, the harder it became for her to formulate the words.

Once she was finished, she sat slumped over on the drawing table, her head in her hands. Draco was silent, his fingers massaging his temples. "I'm sorry," he replied after several moments of the loudest silence Mariet had ever experienced.

Mariet stood up and flung herself to the floor by Draco's side and slung to him. "It's all my fault..."

She felt Draco's arms lift her and then enclose her in a safe embrace. "I'm sorry," he repeated. He stroked her hair with his hand and rocked her back and forth while she trembled in his arms. "But you know... you shouldn't have done that..."

**_Author's Note: Now, I know what you're thinking. "Call that a chapter? It's not even 1,000 words!" But trust me on this. This is mainly just a filler, a chance for Mariet to get everything off her chest... The next chapter will be much better, I swear. Why? Because it's probably going to be the conclusion to the whole story! Woo! Of course, I may end up changing my mind and continue with the story for another ten chapters, but we'll see how it goes. I hope everyone has enjoyed the ride so far. I love comments, by the way, those of you who have given me reviews. I love them all. They make me happy. And as you know, a happy writer is a productive writer, so keep them coming! I'll see you all in the maybe final chapter of "A Family Endeavor" soon!_**


	14. Chapter 14

**_Author's Note: I am so sorry to those of you who have been waiting so long for this. I've been a little preoccupied, but now I think it's all okay. .:smile:. Anyway, here is another chapter and I know I said it would end with this chapter but I lied. Well, I didn't lie, I just changed my mind. So, there's a little more drama and angst to come so keep with me! I love you guys. Enjoy. :Stranger H_**

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen- Slices**

"I don't know what to do," Mariet said. She had stopped crying and her head was pounding. Her eyes had swollen from the rush of tears and her throat was coated in thick mucus, making her speech sound hollow and slurred. "I want to make it right..."

Draco sighed. "It won't be easy, even if you find a way."

Mariet nodded in a small defeat. "I know... I just wish this never happened... I should have left after he forced me..."

"You can't undo the past," Draco said simply. "You can only try and fix the present... Hopefully the future will follow suit."

Mariet gazed up at him with milky eyes. "How can you know so much?"

"I had it beat into me." The expression in his eyes let her know that her impression had been right. And the casual manner in which he stated his abuse caused her to lean over and dissolve into more tears.

She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't cry for me," Draco said softly. "Please... don't cry..."

Mariet looked up from her kneeling position and was startled by the glimmering droplets that barely escaped the corners of his bright blue eyes. She held a hand to his face and caught one of the little drops with her fingertips. She reached up, gently pulling him down to her and kissed his eyes one at a time, licking away his tears. Draco wrapped her up in his arms and she pulled him down to the floor where they clung to each other, locked in a kiss. The kiss was thick as they were both covered in tears. Mariet buried her fingers in his hair, mussing the perfectly combed platinum locks. Draco's hands slipped down to her blouse and worked at its small buttons. Mariet tugged at his grey shirt and pulled it over his head and tossed it the side. He had, by then, opened her blouse. He hand his hands over her stomach and let them linger over her ribs, sending chills down her spine. She felt her nipples harden, peeking out at Draco through a white lace bra. He leaned down to her and kissed her collarbone.

Mariet breathed out a small moan and Draco stopped, his hands over her, and stared at her. He lingered in that position for a second and got off of her and sat next to her. "I'm sorry..." he said softly. "I can't."

Mariet furrowed her brow and sat up, holding her blouse shut with her hands. "Draco..."

"I'm sorry," he said, pulling his shirt on. "I just..." Without finishing his sentence, he got up and left the guest house.

"Draco..." Mariet called, getting up immediately and following him out, buttoning her blouse up at the same time. "Draco, wait a minute!"

She jogged after him, following him into the Manor. She nearly crashed into him as he had come to a dead stop in the doorway of the drawing room. "Why did you..." she trailed off when she heard them: the angry voices of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. She peered over Draco's shoulder and saw them in midst of an argument.

"Get rid of it," Lucius stated, glowering at Narcissa.

She stared at him, her hands over her stomach in a protective manner. "No," she said defiantly.

"Do not test me Narcissa. I won't tell you again. Get rid of it." Lucius gripped one of her arms and jerked her to him. "I will not have you disgracing the name of this family."

Narcissa tried to wriggle away. "Is that all that matters to you?"

"I will not have that abomination growing in your womb attaching itself to my name." Lucius's eyes were more fierce and threatening than Mariet had ever seen them, and she was only seeing them from a distance. She could only imagine what Narcissa saw.

"It's my choice. It's my child," she said.

"No... You belong to me. That... that _thing_ has no place in this family. "

"I'm having this child Lucius. You can't prevent me from carrying it," Narcissa stared up at Lucius with a hatred Mariet had never seen in a human being.

"Is that so," Lucius sneered.

It happened in an instant: Lucius jerked Narcissa by the arm and she cried out. A flash of light on a metal blade and she crumpled to the floor in a heap, her stomach bleeding heavily.

"Mother!" Draco cried out.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen- Cantata**

Draco rushed to his mother's side, his face contorted in a hideous display of shock and anger. "How dare you!" he screamed at his father as he scooped the tiny frame of Narcissa into his arms.

Lucius stood back, his eyes never leaving Narcissa. "Look what you've done to me," he said lowly.

Mariet took a few timid steps into the room. _Narcissa... _

Draco picked up her shaking body and set her gently on the sofa. A guttural moan came from Narcissa's mouth. It hardly seemed human; it was such a ghastly sound. Mariet tasted the acidic liquid of her stomach contents as she watched the blood flow from Narcissa's stomach. It came in currents, staining the couch and dripping down to the floor.

Draco looked helplessly over at Mariet. "Help me!" he cried.

When Mariet went to take a step forward, Lucius glared at her. "Don't you touch her," he hissed.

"Mariet!" Draco cried, his face a mirror of desperation.

Mariet stood, her eyes going from one to the other. Her heart pounded ten times as fast as it should as she was caught in between them. "I don't know what to do," she said helplessly.

"Help me!" Draco pleaded. "Damn it... Help me!" He started sobbing, rocking his mother's trembling body back and forth.

Mariet did the only thing that she could think to do: she ran. "Mariet!" she heard Draco cry. But she wasn't listening. No. She had to get away. This was too much. It was all too much.

"No you don't," she heard Lucius hiss in her ear. He jerked her by the arm and she plummeted to the floor in an odd manner. "Get your hands off of me!" she cried.

"You're not leaving," he said, dragging her struggling along the floor.

"Let go of me!" she demanded, her voice cracking as tears streamed down her face.

"How hypocritical," he said lowly, tossing her down beside Draco and Narcissa. "It was only yesterday that you were begging to be in my arms."

Mariet shut her eyes and shook her head. "No..."

"Let her go," came the voice of her father. Lucius jerked his head up and clenched his fists.

"Get out of here Severus. This is not your business."

"Oh?" Snape said, arching an eyebrow. "I believe you've mistreated two of my children. That makes it my business." As he said this, his eyes passed from Mariet to the writing body of Narcissa. His face became an outline of pain. "What have you done Lucius..." he said softly.

"It's all your fault," Lucius replied, as though that justified everything. "You're the one who came in and took everything away from me! My own wife and son care for you more than they ever have me! How else do you expect me to react!"

Snape frowned. "It's not my fault you offered them no affection Lucius. People need love. They need to be cared for. You couldn't provide that. I could."

Mariet shuddered as she watched Lucius begin to shake all over. The look in his eyes was murderous. "I am only going to say this once more. Get out of here Severus. You have no place here."

Snape shook his head. "I will not leave. Not so long as my daughter and unborne child are in this predicament."

"Father..." Mariet said quietly as she saw Lucius begin to huff in a fit of anger. "Please, just do what he says... Please..." _I don't want you to die._

"I'm sorry Mariet, but I can't do that," Snape replied sadly. "You've forced me to do this Lucius," he said.

Before Lucius could react, Snape had pulled out his wand and shouted a spell, causing Lucius to be bound in chains. Lucius cursed and struggled against the chains but it was useless. He hovered a few feet from the floor, squirming like a worm on a fish hook.

"Come on," Snape beckoned, helping Draco lift Narcissa to her feet. Mariet felt as though her legs were going to give way as she stood, but by the glory of Merlin, they didn't. She, Draco, and her father left the Manor slowly, guiding Narcissa along step by step.

* * *

Lucius was thrown into Azkaban, no trial needed. Between Snape's influence and Narcissa's murdered unborne child, there was evidence enough to have him locked away until he died.

"I'm sorry," Mariet said, following the three out of the room Lucius had been tried in. "I never meant for this to happen..."

Snape slowed his pace and faced his daughter. "Neither did I."

* * *

Mariet gathered her things, folding her clothes and books into her bags. She gazed around the guest house sadly. She still could not believe the incidents that had only just taken place. Lucius stabbing Narcissa, Narcissa and her father's child dying in the process, and then Lucius being sentenced to Azkaban... It was all too much. It had been too much since the very first moment she stepped into the Malfoy Manor. _What an endeavor... _she thought as she slung her bags over her shoulder.

"Nib will miss the young Mistress," the house elf squeaked, appearing behind her.

"Oh... hello Nib," Mariet smiled. "I'll miss you too."

Nib smiled a little and curtseyed. "Nib will be seeing her soon?"

Mariet tilted her head and gazed down at the letter Lucius had sent her shortly after his arrival in Azkaban. "Yes... Yes you will," she said. She took one last look at her portrait of the distraught family and smirked. "I'll finish _you_ later." With that, she closed the door and slipped the key into her pocket. She would need it later after all. Lucius was set, through her own arrangements, to be released from the prison soon. They were to continue their love affair, despite all that had occurred the week before. If her own father couldn't let his lover go, why should she?

FIN.

**_Author's Note: Well, there it is. The final :sniff sniff: installment of A Family Endeavor. Hopefully it wasn't too chaotic for you. Or weird. But then the whole thing is weird isn't it? Peh. I have a messed up mind. I can't help it. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this and I really really hope it wasn't absolutely stupid or anything. :twitches as she has the urge to go and rewrite the whole ending: I'm all right... I'm all right. I won't change it unless you all absolutely detest this ending with every fiber of your beings. Which, if that is the case, I do hope you'll tell me. Because I really do worry when I end things. It's just so final... Love you all to death, looking forward to the reviews of those of you who review, forever and always, Stranger H._**


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